


Eclipsed Sunshine

by HooNos313



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 04:57:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 60,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20718467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HooNos313/pseuds/HooNos313
Summary: Raven abandoned yang when she was just a newborn to return to her tribe of thieves and killers. But what if she decided to take her daughter with her?





	1. Chapter 1

-Birth-  
"AHHHH! DAMMIT! AHHHH!"

The loud ear piercing screams of a woman echoed through a small house on the Island of Patch as a white hooded woman rushed back and forth between rooms grabbing what was needed. The screams growing louder and louder before it suddenly went silent only to be replaced by the cries of a newborn. The black haired woman laying back in the bed she was in letting go of her partners hand which was most likely crushed. 

"Oh my gosh Raven! She's beautiful." Summer said as she grabbed the towels she had rushed for and cleaned the baby before wrapping her in a pink blanket. 

"She must get that from you Tai." Qrow said as he looked over Summer's shoulder taking in the sight of a small infant with a small tuff of blonde hair and lilac eyes. The crying quickly calming down as Raven held up her middle finger towards her brother too exhausted to come up with a clever response. The baby was soon passed to her father who quickly had tears streaming down his face as he held her close to his chest. Unable to speak as he took in the sight of his new baby girl in his arms. 

"Let me see her." Raven suddenly said as she forced herself to sit up. Only it wasn't in a motherly tone it was a demanding one with Taiyang quickly nodding and handing the infant over to her mother. The dark haired woman looking down at the baby in her arms gently rocking her back and forth. "So small... So fragile..." 

"Then make sure not to drop her." Qrow quickly said never missing a chance to berate her. Raven scoffing at her brother before passing the baby to Taiyang. A smile quickly coming to his face as he rocked the baby in his arms with Summer quickly walking over to smile at the baby. Qrow turning towards his sister who was already attempting to move out of bed but was stopped by him. "Why don't you take a few days off for once? The Grimm sure ain't going nowhere."

Raven held an angered look on her face as she clearly didn't want to remain any longer in bed after months of being forced to lay around the house and be absent from missions. Relaxing against the bedframe as Taiyang reached over to take the newborn infant from her mother. "If I'm going to be forced to this bed any longer then I want a drink." Raven quickly ordered with her brother being just as quick to hold out his own personal flask towards her.

"Just this once since you actually popped out a cute kid." Qrow said with a grin on his face as his sister didn't even bother to respond, removing the lid to the flask and quickly drank the liquor inside. "And congratulations Tai, at least something good came out of meeting my sister." He said addressing the father only to be sent to the ground as his flask flew right into his face. Letting out a soft groan as he pulled himself back to his feet to watch his sister wipe the alcohol off her lips.

"You got a horrible taste in liquor." She said with Qrow simply grinning as he picked his flask up off the ground. 

As days turned into weeks the team became accustomed to having a baby around them, deciding to remain in the small home for the time being till they decided on how to move forward with the baby. A name still not given to the newborn as Raven didn't seem to care much and Taiyang simply had too many bouncing around his pun filled mind. "Hmm... What do you think of Robin? Get it? Cause Raven, and once the baby is older I can be like birds of a feather flock together."

"I think you've been cooped up in this place for too damn long, come on you and me are gonna go celebrate." Qrow said as he wrapped his arm around his blonde teammate pulling him away from the list of names on the table. "You've been putting up with my sister and a crying baby so you definitely need a drink."

"She actually doesn't cry alot, guess we got lucky there." Taiyang said quickly before he was practically being dragged towards the door. He knew it was only a matter of time before Qrow dragged him out for drinks but he was really hoping it wasn't just two weeks after his baby was born. Whenever the two drank Qrow either had some blackmail worthy photos of Tai or stuck him with a large tab. "Summer!" He quickly called out and a smile dawned on him as the white hooded woman walked down the stairs.

"Oh are you two going into town? Okay well I actually have a list of things we need for the baby, so here you go. And don't worry about a thing while you're gone because I have everything under control!" Summer stated with a happy smile as she handed a list over to Tai who was quickly dragged out the front door by Qrow.

"Come on dammit! I know a great place with some skimpy waitresses!" Qrow said as the two men were watched from the distance by a pair of red eyes. Raven standing in her bedroom with her weapon to the side as she tightened the sash around her waist and zipped up her bag. Taking a look across the room at the crib in the corner before grabbing her sword and opening a portal in front of herself. 

"Perhaps one day I'll come back for you." Before she could step through her portal though a small cry could be heard. Raven stopping as the cries soon became louder and she turned to see a small hand reaching out towards the ceiling. With a moment of hesitation she soon walked over and looked down to see her daughter crying till she suddenly stopped, her tear filled lilac eyes watching her mother and reaching for her. She wasn't sure what to do or say, she planned on leaving and yet... As she looked into her daughter's eyes she felt a pain in her chest that caused her to grit her teeth. 

"See? This is why we should have them staying on the bottom floor close to the kitchen. But nobody ever listens to me." Summer muttered to herself as she walked towards Raven's room after hearing some cries but opened the door to see Raven holding the newborn in her arms as she neared a portal with a bag in hand. "Raven!"

The dark haired huntress soon turned to see Summer in the doorway with narrowed eyes. She may be naively hopeful but she wasn't stupid, a bag packed, a portal, rising tensions between everyone, they both knew what this was. "Just shut the door Summer, just go downstairs and wait for them to come back. There's no need for anyone to get hurt here so just go." Raven warned

"Except for Tai, Qrow, me, but that's really it? You have the baby and now you're just leaving? What about Tai? No matter how many times you showed my that scowl or insulted one of us you always had our back, always made sure we got out of whatever trouble we were in. But if you really are going to go through with this I'm not gonna stand in your way, as long as you hand over the baby." Summer demanded taking a step forward only to see Raven immediately draw her blade. Summer's own weapon downstairs meant she had to be careful of how she went about this.

"No matter what you do you can't win, no weapon, a baby in my arms, what do you think you can do here Summer? Buy time? Come up with a plan? Or do you think those two will miraculously show up to help?" Raven asked as the baby began to fuss only to be calmed down as her mother rocked her in her arms. "I really didn't want it to come to this Summer. You were supposed to just stay downstairs, rest, read a book, cook some of those sugar filled cookies. But you've forced my hand." 

Summer took a step forward hoping to close the distance between them just a bit only to watch Raven take a step forward as well and toss her the baby. The white hooded woman's eyes widening in shock as she reached up to catch the baby only to have a blade driven through her shoulder breaking through her aura and sending her to the ground as Raven twisted the blade and caught the now crying baby. "There there, be a good girl." Raven cooed while looking down at a trembling Summer who let out a yelp as Raven forced the blade down.

"I could kill you, I want you to know that Summer. I could easily kill you but I'm not because I need you to know this. If you come after me, I will end all of your lives as well as hers." Raven warned while pointing towards the newborn. Pulling her blade back before making her way to the still opened portal. 

"Was any of it... Any of it real? Were we ever friends? Were we ever even a team?" Summer asked forcing herself to her feet as blood dripped down her side. 

There was a moment of silence from Raven before turning back to see Summer rush towards her in an attempt to grab the baby. Being knocked on the head by the hilt of her sword sending her back to the ground. "I truly did care for you Summer, for all of you but if I'm going to survive I need to leave. And if I were you... I'd leave too before you end up dead." With that final warning Raven stepped through her portal with it immediately shutting behind her. 

-Age 10-  
It was a sunny day in the forest with a soft breeze of wind coming in through the forest. A carriage riding along the dirt road as a blonde girl in a dress played with her dolls on the floor with her mother watching her play. The woman smiling till the carriage came to a sudden stop along the road. 

"Ma'am? Could you come out here for a second?" The driver asked as the mother looked down at her daughter giving her a reassuring smile before stepping out and shutting the door behind her.

"What seems to be the problem?" She asked the driver who simply pointed to the middle of the road where a girl appeared to be hunched over crying. The two exchanged a confused look as the woman slowly approached the girl who appeared to have torn pants with a brown vest on over a button up shirt. Her face covered as she cried and held her arm close to her chest. "Excuse me? Are you okay? Where are you parents?"

"My arm..." The girl said in a low tone as the woman crouched down nearing the young girl. 

"Come here, let me take a look at it." She asked only for her eyes to widen in shock as the girl soon showed her.

The driver watching from a few feet back as the two seemed to go completely silent with a cold gun barrel soon pressed up against the back of his head. "Hands up mister, you try anything I'll make sure it's the last thing you ever do." A man's voice said from behind as other people soon came out from thr wooded area with weapons as the woman turned around with the young blonde girl holding a small gun against her back.

"Great job there little missy! I'd say your crying needs a bit of work though!" The man called out pushing the driver down to his knees as Yang simply stuck her tongue out at him. Another bandit walking over to grab a hold of the woman before tearing her necklace from around her neck. 

"Go check the carriage there with the others blondie, grab anything that looks valuable or useful. The others will handle the horses." The bandit said with Yang nodding and quickly running over only to hear screaming as the bandits dragged the girl out of the carriage. 

"No! You can have whatever you want just leave her alone!" The woman called out only to receive a a hit to the back of her head knocking her out as the young girl was quickly knocked out with a hit to the back of the head as well. Yang walking over and kneeling down beside the girl as she reached out grabbing the doll that the girl appeared to be clutching in her hand. One of a woman in a long elegant dress with a diamond crown on her head.

"Hey come on kid! You know the routine, grab whatever you can and lets go." A bandit called out with Yang quickly nodding but also slipping the doll in her pocket before jumping into the carriage. Within mere minutes of their arrival the bandits were riding away on their horses with Yang holding a large pouch of goods and valuables in her arms. 

"You think my mom is gonna be happy with this haul?" Yang asked while grabbing onto the woman in front of her riding the horse. 

"Honestly kiddo, I pray she does." The woman quickly replied as they soon rode back into their camp with Yang quickly jumping off and setting the pouch down before running off towards the large center tent in the camp. Running inside with an excited smile on her face to find her mother sitting on the ground in front of a table with two cups of tea prepared. 

Her back to her Yang slowly inched closer to her mother and leaped up only to be grabbed midair and slammed down back onto the ground. "With how cheery you're acting you better have came back with a nice haul Yang." Raven warned with Yang simply grinning as she got to her feet.

"Yeah! We got plenty of stuff from this rich looking lady and even two really pretty horses! You should have seen me out there! I had them fooled out there with my fake crying." Yang said proudly receiving a pat on the head from her mother who nodded towards the cup of tea.

"I expect you to be amazing out there Yang, even as a child you are expected to help. And as my daughter I expect you to be as best as you can because that is what I am expecting you to be." Raven said only to watch as Yang quickly drank her tea before setting her cup back down.

"I know mom and I plan on being even better than that! Ooh do you wanna see what I found too?" Yang asked before reaching into her pocket and pulling out the doll she found and set it on the table. "I've never seen a doll like this before, I wonder how much it cost. Isn't it cool?" She asked while holding it out towards her mother who took it wnd examined it, Yang reaching out to take it back only for it to be snapped in half. "Hey!"

"You will be better than I expect you to be? I dont believe you will be as long as you continue to play and run around like an ignorant child. When you are out there your priority is the task you are given. And your task was to go out and bring back anything valuable you could get, that doll is nothing but plastic and fabric. You will do better next time or you will face the consequences do I make myself clear child?" Raven asked as Yang looked over the shattered toy before nodding silently. There was a moment of silence before Raven reached out and softly patted her daughter's head.

"There there, be a good girl and give your mother a hug. If your haul really is as good as you say then I have a present for you." Yang soon walked over and sat down next to Raven who hugged her and gently rubber her back. "You will be amazing one day Yang, but in order for you to be amazing you need to do what I tell you. So tell me Yang, what are the rules?"

"The strong live... And the weak die." Yang said softly while feeling her mother rub her back. 

"And to be strong you need to be able to fight the Grimm right? Which is why it's about time I give you these." Reaching under the table Raven pulled out a large box that she soon set on the table with Yang looking at it confused but excited. "Open it."

Following her mother's orders Yang reached out opening it revealing two matching blades and a red vest to the side with a black sash. Slowly running her finger over one of the blades with Raven smiling at her silent daughter. "Do not disappoint me Yang."

\- Age 14-  
As a loud roar echoed through the forest a young man sprinted as fast as he could with his heart racing as fast as his legs moved. He could hear it right behind him which only urged him on further as he pushed some branches out of his way only to run right off a small cliff and tumble down the side of the hill hitting rocks, branches, bushes and anything else in his path. He soon came to a stop as he collided with the flat ground and now with cuts and bruises all over he prayed to the gods he would be spared only for growling to soon be heard right behind him. He forced himself onto his back to be met with red eyes of a Beowolf who soon lunged at him only for a blade to poke through the back of its head out the front. 

He laid there shocked as the blade was soon pulled upwards and as the Grimm faded from this world he looked up to see a young woman before him. A white mask with red lines along it and two holes for eyes covered her face. Long blonde hair along her back with a red vest tied together with a thin black sash covering her torso except for a white top able to be seen underneath at her chest. A second katana sheathed at her waist with another scabbard beside it forming a cross at her right side. Red silk material attached to the back of her waistline and long black pants reaching down to a pair of boots. 

"Oh thank y-" He was soon knocked out by the hilt of her sword before she quickly sheathed it back at her waist. 

"Idiot." She muttered looking over at the nearby walls surrounding her tribe before grabbing the man's ankle and dragged him away before anyone could notice. She wasn't sure which way he came from but after getting far enough from the tribe Yang took any jewelry as well as the man's wallet and left back to her tribe. Being forced to hunt a boar to cover for time and upon walking into her tribe noticed two large wooden pillars parallel to each other standing tall in the center of her tribe, thick rope attacked to each pillar. "Idiots..."

Walking forward Yang dropped off the boar to a tent entrance with a hand quickly pulling it in as she made her way to the large center tent to find her mother there sipping on tea. Finally removing her mask Yang breath a sigh of relief and sat down across from her mother sipping on the avaliable cup of tea. 

"Your walk took some time, did you run into any trouble while out there?" Raven asked

"Nothing besides a few Grimm and a tricky boar, along with some poor schmuck who apparently wasn't fast enough." Yang said pulling out a ring and a wallet before setting them on the table.

"As long as you didn't come back empty handed." Raven said setting her empty cup down and walking towards the exit.

"Mother." Yang said before she could leave. "I saw the pillars out there, will you be needing me out there tonight?"

There was a moment of silence before her mother finally looked back at her daughter who kept her back to her. "Its about time you take larger responsibilities in the tribe Yang. It may be difficult at first but this is how we ensure that those of the tribe are truly part of the tribe."

"Understood." 

"Good girl." With that Raven walked out as Yang took in a shaky breath before letting out a calm exhale. Closing her eyes as she sipped the rest of her tea in a quick manner and looked at her mask that seemed to be watching her. With a soft glare she turned it around before laying back down on the ground.

It was a few hours till night finally fell over the tribe but once it did everyone was gathered, from infants to adults as Raven stood next to the wooden pillars as a pair of bandits dragged a man out from a cage with a sack over his face. "We are all part of this tribe, and the rule we live by are that the strong live and the weak die. That does not simply mean being able to kill, it means remaining strong even in the face of danger. To not go against the rules that have been set." 

The man was soon forced down to his between both pillars with his wrists tied to the pillars as the sack was soon removed. A gag in his mouth being removed as well as he panted and looked towards Raven. "Dont do this! I didn't tell anybody! I've been set up!" He yelled tugging on his ropes.

Raven paid him no mind as she looked at the tent which appeared to be illuminated by a flame inside. "Yang, its time." She called out.

Within moments Yang walked out of the tent with the flame inside seeming to follow her, a scorching hot branding iron in her hand. She walked forward with a steady step as Raven soon drew her sword and cut down along the man's back only cutting open the back of his shirt and not the skin. The entire tribe watched as the man continued to plea and beg as Yang stood there staring at the glowing metal. Taking deep breaths as she shifted her eyes to the man's back.

"Yang." Raven soon said catching her daughters attention. "You know the rules, now follow them." She said in a low scolding tone as Yang nodded and gripping the handle soon pressed the metal against the man's back who let out a loud scream as his aura appeared to slowly break and fade before pulling the metal back as the man appeared to have quickly passed out from the pain. Yang watched as the once clear back now had the brand of what resembled a bird's footprint on his back for the rest of his life.

As she stood there silently Raven cut the ropes allowing the man to fall to the ground before looking towards her tribe. "This man decided to go against his tribe, to sell us out to the military in an attempt to profit himself. Death would be too easy a release for him which is why he will serve this tribe not as a member but as a sign to others of what happens when you go against the tribe."

-Age 17-  
Yang stood near a window in her red and black attire with her weapons at her side. Clouds seeming to simply zoom past her as her lilac eyes seemed to simply fade away from where she currently was to weeks ago when she was given her orders.

"I am allowing you to handle this task Yang, not because you are my daughter, not because you're special, but because you meet the requirements. You will do as I say and keep me informed otherwise I will bring you back and have you replaced." Raven said in a stern tone as she sat across from her daughter who simply nodded in agreement.

"Infiltrate, observe, report." Yang said repeating her basic instructions.

"Do not draw too much attention to yourself or you could be found out. I cared for you, taught you, trained you, now show me the fruits of my labor." 

Yang grit her teeth as she looked out at the sky before feeling someone bump into her and glanced over to see a girl in a red hood quickly pass her by. "Oops sorry!" She quickly apologized before moving on to watch a news report about some criminal being shown. 

A young man with blonde hair stumbling along the wall as his face appeared green with his hand quickly covering his mouth. Yang glanced at him before scoffing and looking back out the window as the clouds appeared to clear revealing her new home, or at least what she would be calling her home, Beacon Academy.


	2. Chapter 2

Shots rang out through the large forest as wooden logs swung back and forth dangling from the trees. Some with bullet holes in them and others completely untouched as a group of children were all lined up firing off guns handed to them earlier that day.

-Age 9-  
A young Yang continued firing off the gun she was handed watched as her shots continued to graze the piece of wood that moved back and forth. Her grip on the gun tightening as she grit her teeth and fired a shot that landed right in the center of the log. A smile quickly coming to her face as she looked over to see how the other children were doing with their aiming and shooting. The other children appeared to be doing as well as Yang with only a few lucky shots except there seemed to be one big difference between her and the other kids. 

With every shot taken the other children had their stance and aim adjusted by a parent or sibling of theirs. Tips whispered into their ears along with words of encouragement as some of the children appeared to be having a fun time learning to shoot. 

"Hey!" 

Yang soon turned to see a man from the tribe taking a bite out of an apple as he simply looked down at her munching on his apple. 

"Keep shooting, its best you brats learn early on." He said taking another bite from his food.

Yang glanced back at the other children receiving help and knowledge on this before turning towards the man and scratching the back of her head. "Any.... Tips?" She asked quietly almost as if not wanting the other children to hear. 

"You want a tip?" He asked to which Yang quickly nodded. The man kneeled down besides the much shorter Yang and pointed towards the piece of wood. "Okay so you see how its moving back and forth right there? What you wanna do is aim and shoot." He simply stated before standing back up and taking another bite from his apple before walking off. Yang watching and even aiming at the back of his head for a second before turning back to the wood and quickly unloading the last of her bullets at it, missing the majority of them.

As the small group arrived back at camp Yang walked into her large tent to see her mother sitting down and already eating what appeared to be a mix of potatoes and pork. "How was practice?" The older woman asked.

"It was fine." Yang responded walking over to the other plate of food waiting for her. Sitting down she took a fork and began to eat while remaining mostly silent. 

"You're not as energetic as usual Yang, did a simple piece of wood destroy your spirit that much?" Raven asked as she took a piece of food into her mouth as her daughter appeared to stiffen up at the question. Raven expected much from her daughter but if she was to be so down after a simple loss she had a long way to go.

"You were out today on a job right mom?" Yang asked receiving a simple nod from her mother as she simply poked at her food contemplating her next few words. "Where's dad?"

At that moment Raven was the one who stiffened up and set her fork down before shifting her eyes back to her daughter. "And what brought this about?"

"Well... I know you couldn't be there but the other kids were getting help from their parents or older siblings and... I was just wondering where dad was? You never really talk about him or tell me about him is all." Yang asked staring down at her food scared to look up and meet her mother's eyes.

"Your father was an ignorant foolish oaf who I shared a single night with and made you. He was nothing more than a stress reliever for that night which I quickly disposed of." Raven coldly stated appearing to shock her daughter a bit. "Its best you stop thinking like that Yang, all you have is me and this tribe. You will do great things but only if you stop relying on others. You dont want your father here because you love him or want to know him, you want him here because of what he can do for you. And as my daughter I expected better from you."

The young girl looked down at her food and simply nodded as she knew better than to anger her mother. "I'm sorry... I'll stop thinking like that and I'll do better. I promise mom." 

Out the corner of her eye Yang could see Raven lift her arm and she soon shut her eyes hoping she wouldn't be punished only to feel a soft pat on her head from over the table. "There there, be a good girl and look me in the eye Yang." Given her soft tone Yang obliged and looked up to see her mother not angry but calm. "As long as you do better in the future there wont be any problems Yang. You're a good girl who knows that she should listen and do as her mother tells her. As long as you have me here you won't need anyone else."

"I know... And I will do better next time I promise. And maybe once I do good I can go out on jobs with the others?" Yang asked now with a hopeful smile.

"We'll see, you still need to prove that you can handle yourself after all. Most men won't go down easily after all." Raven said as the two soon began digging into their food.

-Age 17-

"I'm really sorry! Really really sorry! Can you please just... Put me down?" A young blonde asked as he was currently being held upside down by Yang who had an iron grip on his ankle after he had stumbled over and threw up over boots. She remaining silent as she stared down at him with a crowd now watching the two waiting to see just what would happen. 

"If I ever see you again I will do much worse." Yang warned but before Jaune could ask what she meant by much worse he was dropped on his head right into the pile of throw up. Yang soon walking away with others stepping out of her way after watching her easily deal with Jaune.

As the airship soon landed at Beacon the doors opened and Yang was one of the first to step off and take in the sight of the large school as she walked towards the courtyard, taking her scroll out from inside her vest and taking a picture of the school.

It was mere seconds after she took the picture however that someone bumped into her and her scroll fell out of her hand landing on the ground. Yang soon reached down picking it up and turned only to find that it was the same red hooded girl that bumped into her on the airship, only now with a terrified look on her face. 

"Oh I'm so sorry! I didnt mean to bump into you! Did your scroll break? I promise to buy you a new one just please dont hold me upside down by my feet!" Ruby quickly begged having seen the demonstration of power on the airship and she planned on avoiding the blonde if only she didn't get distracted by the sight of the school and accidentally bump into her.

Yang raised a brow in surprise as she leaned down looking at the girl closer causing Ruby to instinctively lean back. "You're a tad young to be here aren't you? I wasn't aware Beacon was allowing kids into their school." The blonde stated pulling back as she crossed her arms.

"Oh uh.. First off I'm not really a kid and I can handle myself..." Ruby responded timidly even tensing up when the blonde placed her hand on the hilt of one of her swords.

"That's bold of you to assume, if I were you I would run home before you get hurt. Unless you intend on proving yourself." Yang said with narrowed eyes as she could see something attached to the girls backside she just couldn't figure out what it was. She waited but as expected the younger girl simply stood there with a worried look on her face not reaching for her weapon. A scoff leaving Yang's lips as she turned and walked away. "As expected."

"Okay... Okay... First few minutes here and I've made an enemy. Great... Doing great Ruby..." The red hooded girl said to herself before groaning and allowing herself to fall backwards in hopes the world would simply eat her up. Instead she collided with some containers. "Ow..."

"You dolt, what do you think you're doing? Falling back like that into someone's personal luggage." A voice suddenly asked as Ruby looked up to see a white haired girl with a scar over her left eye. "Well? Are you gonna say something or are you just gonna lay there?" She asked staring down at Ruby.

The young girl simply staring up at her before a smile crossed her face and she bounced up tackling the white haired girl down to the ground. "Weiss! I'm so happy to see you!" She cheered loudly.

"That's more the reaction I was expecting." Weiss quickly replied soon standing up with Ruby remaining latched to her in a tight hug. "What are you doing simply falling down onto the ground Ruby? You got to come to Beacon early so you need to make sure you make a good impression on the people here." Weiss said pulling herself away in order to wipe some dirt off Ruby and adjust her hood. 

"I know but I just got here and I've already made an enemy, I accidentally bumped into this scary blonde girl who held a guy upside down on the airship. And then she challenged me to a fight and I dont think students should fight and I'm pretty sure she was ready to stab me and I'm just so glad you're here with me!" Ruby quickly said once again hugging Weiss. 

"There there Ruby, I'm sure her bark is worse than her bite. Now help me get these containers back in order, you know how dangerous dust can be." Weiss said kneeling down to pick up the multiple containers of dust with Ruby quickly kneeling down to help as well. Crawling over to an opened container and glancing inside to see multiple vials of dust except for one at the end that seemed to be missing. She looked around for it on the ground but being unable to find it she simply shut the container setting it down with the others. Unaware of the girl with a black bow on her head walking away from the area.

"I still can't believe you would do something so reckless Ruby. Going after a known criminal and then getting into a shootout with him on a rooftop?" Weiss asked as the two girls walked down pathway towards the designated area for new students. 

"I know I know but what was I supposed to do? Just let them rob the store? I was there and had Crescent Rose so I decided to help." Ruby explained turning around to walk backwards in order to show Weiss a large smile. "But to be fair if I hadn't done something so reckless and dangerous I wouldn't have gotten to come to Beacon right alongside my super bestie better-" it was at that moment Ruby bumped into someone again due to walking backwards. Turning around only to see a very familiar blonde and in a quick blur was behind Weiss.

"Honestly, if I didn't know any better I'd say you're looking for a fight." Yang stated with a furrowed brow as she glared daggers at Ruby.

"I'm sorry! It was an accident!" Ruby quickly said in hopes of avoiding any more chaos. Feeling a hand on her shoulder as Weiss showed her a reassuring smile. 

"Its okay Ruby, this is the girl that you told me about right?" Weiss asked receiving a quick nod and soon turning towards Yang, placing her hands on her hips. "Where do you get off threatening people? Not to mention a girl who because of her skills, talents, quick thinking, and bravery was allowed to enter this school two years early? You owe her an apology and require a lesson in manners!"

"Oh?" Yang asked once again placing her hand on the hilt of her sword only to watch Weiss mirror her actions, placing her hand on her weapons hilt as well. "And where do you get off ordering apologies from other people princess?"

"Heiress actually." A voice suddenly spoke up from the side as the three girls turned to see a black haired girl with a bow standing beside them staring at the stage in front of them. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schee Dust Company."

A smile quickly crossed Weiss' face as she was quickly finding her own standing among the other students. "A company known for their controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." Blake quickly said pulling that smile away from Weiss as Ruby looked over her shoulder.

"The company does alot of good too, they make plenty of money for charities at fund raising events. Besides Weiss is a really good and kind person as well... Unlike some people..." Ruby stated while muttering the last part with her eyes glancing at a certain blonde. Yang ready to start a fight till a mans voice began speaking through the speaker system. 

Yang didn't bother paying too much attention to the short speech he had prepared and instead glanced over at Weiss who was focused on the speech. Reaching into her scroll and pulling it out only an inch in order to discretely take a photo of the heiress. As the speech was ending they were directed to where they would be sleeping for the night but before their apparent headmaster could walk off stage Yang was quick to take a photo of him as well as Ms Goodwitch on stage.

Deciding it best to learn her surroundings Yang was one of the first leaving the large room in order to explore Beacon grounds and familiarize herself with the layout. Taking pictures of the buildings and areas of the school on her scroll as she did. 

"I didn't take you for the photographer type." A voice quickly said from behind her back and on instinct Yang turned with her sword drawn. The girl from earlier with the black bow in her head standing before her. At age 12 Yang was trained to always be aware of someone following her and yet she didn't hear the girl sneak up on her at all.

"Didn't take you for the type to go looking for a fight? I see you more as the shy bookworm type if I'm being honest." Yang said sheathing her sword as she couldn't very well go around aiming it at students. 

"Bookworm? Yes, shy? Not much. I enjoy a good read be it horror, fantasy, mystery. I can never turn down a good mystery which is why I wanted to ask why you're taking pictures of the staff as well as the heiress." Blake suddenly stated having noticed the picture taking as well as Yang's grip on one of her swords tighten. "I would understand the building, maybe to send home to family or familiarize yourself with but not random people. So... Why the pictures?" 

It was silence between the two girls as Yang considered her options, they were in a secluded area but she hadn't taken notice of where the cameras were. There were numerous new students walking around and the girl clearly wouldn't go down easily considering the weapon on her back. Not to mention if a student suddenly dissapeared the first day questions would be asked.

"What do you want me to say? I like to take photographs, I don't see any rules against it. Besides its not nice to spy on people either, not really something regular people go around doing." Yang said with a soft glare on her face as it was clear the girl wasn't an ordinary student. "Names Yang, felt you should know it if we're gonna be classmates in the future."

"Blake, and I would be careful because you never know just who could be watching you." She warned as Yang walked off with a new found sense of anger for practically everyone she had interacted with today. 

After the sun set all the students were gathered in a large room with multiple sleeping bags laid out and the students simply enjoying the night with some playing games, reading, chatting, or even fighting. It was a loud night to say the least but Yang did her best to calm herself as she sat with her legs folded one over another and her hands on her knees with her eyes shut. A black tank top on with checkered pajama bottoms on covering her legs. Her long blonde hair tied into a ponytail as she soon felt the sound around her quickly fade away into nothingness.

"Hey... Hey there..."

Complete nothingness.

"Excuse me." A tap on her shoulder quickly forces Yang's eyes open as she grabbed the hand and twisted it watching as the boy who threw up on her shoes was no in front of her with a pained face. Her eyes quickly drifting down to his body to find him in what was a pajama onesie.

"What?" Yang asked keeping her voice down even though she felt like screaming at him.

"First let go, please let go." Jaune pleaded as Yang simply twisted his hand more before obliging and letting him go. 

"What?" She asked once again with a very furrowed brow as she was hoping to have even the tiniest bit of solitude in this crowded room. 

As Jaune rubbed his hand he was quickly regretting this decision but he already set his sleeping bag down and what was the worst she could do besides some empty threats? "Well I came over to apologize for earlier. You know, back on the airship when I... Well when I puked all over your boots."

"Don't remind me." Yang said now wanting to hurt him even more for reminding her about that.

"Well that's why I'm here, we got off on a really bad foot and well... You look like a nice girl and I think the two of us could be good friends. Blondes have to stick together after all. What do you say? Names Jaune Arc, rolls off the tongue doesn't it?" He asked with a confident smile on his face as he saw her eyes shift away from him and over to his luggage next to his sleeping bag.

"Names Yang, and your weapon, you're a swordsman?" Yang questioned as she didn't think any trained swordsman would be so easy to handle.

"Huh? Oh yeah I know its not all that impressive but my great grandpa used it in the war and sure it can't shoot out bullets or spray out dust but I think it gets the job done. I also have a shield." Jaune said reaching over and attaching it to his forearm before watching it expand.

"A sword is just as good as any other weapon, as long as its in the right hands." Yang stated before reaching over to grab her own blades, pulling out just a bit to show the sharpened and tuned blade. "You don't see many people this day and age using old fashioned swords or katanas and if they are they turn into a gun or some other weapon."

"Yeah, I was kind of worried about coming here with these but they've been passed down in my family for a long time so I should be proud of them shouldn't I?" Jaune asked with Yang actually showing him a small smile.

"Grab your weapon and follow me, if you really want to make up for puking all over my boots then I have an idea." Yang suggested grabbing her matching blades and walking out of the room with a confused Jaune obliging and doing as she asked. Unaware of the red headed girl watching him in the distance.

'Wow confidence really does help when talking to girls...' Jaune thought to himself as he followed Yang and even though she did come off as tough and brooding she was cute. And here he was, after getting held upside down by her he was sneaking out for a late night chat with her. He eagerly followed her out to an empty courtyard where she set her blades down on a bench before turning towards Jaune.

"Okay so I think you know what happens next." She said crossing her arms as she stared at Jaune.

"O-out here? I mean... Are you sure?" He questioned as he expected somewhere a bit more discrete and not outside.

"Well we very well can't do it in there surrounded by eveyone else. What's the big deal? Just pull it out so we can get started, I wanna get a good look at it before we start anyway." Yang requested with Jaunes face soon turning red as he listened to her talk.

"So... You want me to pull it out? That's a bit fast don't you think?" Jaune asked with a nervous chuckle as he was quickly regretting this decision as he had never even kissed a girl before.

"Listen you're starting to drive my patience so either pull out your sword or I'm gonna leave right back inside and lock you out here." Yang warned with a now furrowed brow from how long he was taking. 

"Wait.. My... Oh! Okay! Wow we were on two completely different trains of thought right there. I thought you meant-" he paused as he noticed her raise a brow in confusion before quickly reaching over and pulling out his own blade. "Here it is! Pretty impressive right?" He quickly asked hoping she forgot about what he was about to say.

Walking over Yang carefully grabbed the blade and looked at it closely. "Its definitely an old sword but you've managed to keep it in good condition. The blade could be sharpened a bit more as well as polished but overall its a fine sword that has clearly seen its fair share of battles. I think it's time we get started though."

She said as she handed the sword to.  
Jaune and walked back to her swords, quickly pulling them from their scabbards and held one in each hand while holding them outwards. "I'm sure you know the rules here, and no need to hold back with me. If you do I might kill you." Yang warned gripping her swords while noticing an unbalanced stance from her opponent.

"You got it." Jaune said holding his confident persona as he soon rushed forward and held his sword up high prepared to bring it down with a powerful swing. He was sure Yang would block it and if she counter attacked he could block with his shield and go from there. It may not be an easy victory but he was determined to impress this girl. It sadly did not to that way as Yang soon moved to the side and tripped Jaune with her leg watching as he soon collided with the ground. As he attempted to get back up the tip of a sword was now up against his neck.

"In all my years of practicing, sparring, fighting, even training, have I never seen someone so easily taken down with so many openings. Not only was your stance horrible and your reaction time terrible but your footwork was simply lazy. I have seen literal children last longer." 

Jaune sat there on the ground speechless as he went from okay terms to bad terms with this girl in a matter of seconds. He knew he had a long way to go here but he didn't expect to lose in seconds. At least there wasn't a crowd of students here to watch like in the airship. 

"S-sorry..." Jaune said instinctively apologizing as he watched Yang retract her sword and place them back in their respective scabbards. Her cold gaze staring directly into his soul as she crouched down to be eye level with him and as he looked away she grabbed his hair forcing his eyes to hers. Yang remained silent as she stared into his eyes leaving Jaune to wonder if she could literally stare into his soul at the moment.

"You're gonna die." She suddenly said surprising Jaune as he sat there speechless. "You're no warrior, you're a boy playing around where he doesn't belong. Best case scenario you die some valiant sacrifice, worst case scenario you get torn apart by Grimm as a late night snack because you went to the bathroom." She stated letting go of his hair and standing back up to walk towards the door with her swords in hand. Leaving Jaune there on the ground contemplating if he made the right decision in coming to Beacon.

"Sorry for wasting your time... I should have never talked to you." Jaune mentioned quietly as he forced himself to his feet.

All while Yang stood there frozen in place, staring at the door in front of her with those words repeating over and over in her head. I should have never talked to you, I should have never talked to you... Gritting her teeth Yang felt those words echoe in her head bringing back uncomfortable memories. Her grip on her swords scabbard getting close to shattering it as Jaune noticed her stand still. 

"Hey are you-"

"If you don't want to die then I'll train you." Yang suddenly said in a soft somber tone, a stark contrast to her usual rough aggressive tone she took with eveyone.

"Train me? In what? How to use my sword?"

"To survive, I'll teach you how to survive now give me an answer before I change my mind."

"Oh uh... Sure?" Jaune more asked than said as Yang immediately walked off following his answer. Left there wondering just what triggered the girl before deciding to head back to his sleeping bag. 

Raven sat inside her large tent polishing her mask as her own scroll suddenly flashed showing a picture of her daughter. Reaching over she answered the call while holding the scroll against her ear. "Are you clear?"

"Clear, as you said, Ozpin and Goodwitch are here and appear to be the only real threats at the moment. I've sent over pictures of the school and familiarized myself with the layout of it." Yang quickly explained standing in an empty hallway.

"Good girl, is there anything else?"

"An heiress, Weiss Schnee, she's a student here and I haven't been able to assess her combat abilities but once I do I'll notify you. I've sent over a picture as well as proof." Yang explained as more photos transferred to Raven's scroll. "Besides her there's a girl, she is hiding something. I'm going to look into her and see if I can determine what she's hiding." 

"Do as you wish within the orders you've been given. But remember that you're alone there Yang, I may have a portal to you but do not expect my help. If you mess up I won't be there to save you understood?"

"Understood." With that her mother ended the call leaving Yang there to grip her scroll a bit too tightly as it soon cracked and broke under her grip. "Not like you'd save me even if you were here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Ruby don't just know each other for anyone wondering, there is a valid reason for them already knowing each other which will be revealed later on along with other characters affected by the changes made.


	3. Chapter 3

-Age 17-  
Yang sat inside her mother's tent, silent as she could hear someone enter the tent and with rules in place she knew exactly who it was. Sitting still on the ground as the footsteps drew closer and upon feeling a hand on her back the blonde immediately tensed up with her body becoming stiff and her hands balling up into fists. As the hand slowly dragged down her back Yang closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself. 

"Are you prepared for what you have to do Yang? Out there it wont be like it is here, you won't have me there to protect you at every turn. To watch over you as I have for your entire life. Knowing that are you ready to do what this tribe requires of you?" Raven asked sliding her hand up to her daughter's shoulder and firmly squeezing it, receiving a simple nod from her daughter. 

"Very well, I already informed you of what you're going to be doing but there's still some time before we have to part ways. I wanted to give you something that would help in some of your tasks." Raven walked over to a black duffel bag and set it down in front of Yang before taking a seat. "Open it."

With an uneasy hand Yang reached out slowly pulling the zipper back and looked down in confusion at the contents inside the box. "Where did you-"

"It wasn't that hard to find one, they are all over Vale at the moment. With that if you are caught in the act as long as you escape your identity will remain a secret."

"And what about these?"

"All it takes is one recognizable defining trait to draw ones eyes to it. Any report made will focus on those as well as the mask. You very well can't be using your regular clothes or weapons after all, practice with these and become familiar with them. You'll be leaving soon." 

"Of course" Yang quickly nodded and zipped up the duffel bag before standing up and walking out of the tent all while her mother simply watched. The air around her feeling completely different than it did a mere day ago, everything being different now. Eyes watching her, whispers flowing through the air, her own body feeling as if it wasn't hers anymore. 

"Cant believe she's still letting you do this, but whatever she says goes after all."

Yang stopped upon hearing a familiar voice and turned her head back in order to see Vernal standing there with a confident grin on her face. Her grip on the bag strap immediately tightened as her brows furrowed into a deadly glare. "I wont question Raven's judgment even though I'm just waiting for you to have to call her for help. I wonder if she'll even bother showing up to help you."

"I don't need help from anybody Vernal. Besides I thought you of all people would be happy with how things have gone, your competition is gone and you're now the favorite." Yang said in a soft tone not wanting to draw any more attention than necessary for this small interaction.

"The two of you were never competition Yang, we can both see that you're no one's favorite and as for her? She was a selfish brat who chose to serve herself rather than the tribe and look what happened to her." 

"She was our friend dammit, how can you talk about her that way?" Yang asked with narrowed eyes as her eyes flashed from lilac to red.

"The same way I'm going to talk about you once you end up the same way, dead." Yang grit her teeth and quickly stepped forward ready to break Vernals face into pieces before noticing out the corner of her eyes her mother watching her. She didn't say anything, she simply watched her and yet that was still enough to have Yang take a step back. "Good luck out there Yang we both know you're gonna need it." Vernal said with a grin before Yang turned her back to her and walked off.

-Present-   
Yang sat in the courtyard of the school alone in solitude taking in how quiet and peaceful it was at the school. Not only was that a stark contrast to her lifestyle back at her tribe but it was also a stark contrast to mere hours ago in the Emerald forest. Her hands on the bench she was sitting on her grip suddenly tightened thinking back to it.

"None of this is working!"

"I'll handle this!"

"Yang no!"

Simply thinking back to the fight against the large Nevermore made the blonde want to return there and slay every Grimm in that forest. The only exception being a handful of Ursa along with the Nevermore and Deathstalker already dead. Yang having leaped onto the Nevermore and cut clean through one of its wings before ending up unconscious for the rest of the fight. 

"You all will be team RWBY, led by Ruby Rose."

That was what caused Yang to grip the bench with enough force to completely break a small chunk of it off. It also bringing her mind back to where she was as the empty courtyard now had people walking through it. Her strength had always been incredible, even surpassing her mother's but that never meant she could defeat her. Something that her tribe leader made clear time and time again. "Ruby Rose.... Team leader..."

"You didn't expect it to be you did you?" A voice asked from behind and Yang soon stood up from the bench to see her new teammate Blake standing there, once again having snuck up on her. "Ruby had a plan and you completely ignored it, going off and nearly falling hundreds of feet into an empty abiss."

"Yeah, well I'm sorry if I didn't want to listen to some child who has never even seen real combat. Coming up with ridiculous names like Ice Flower and Snowy Petal." Yang said as the heiress and Ruby apparently already had combination attacks. The two having some type of history together that allowed for them to have stellar teamwork.

"So instead you go leaping onto the back of a giant flying Grimm, deal some damage to it and get knocked out by being flown through some old ruins and into a cliff side? You clearly have an issue with not being in charge but we are teammates now meaning I need to know you won't get me killed out there." Blake said with the two simply staring at each other with her holding a calm demeanor unlike Yang who seemed ready to pop. 

"You've seen it, I can tell with you. Just like how I can tell Jaune and Ruby have never seen actual combat I can tell that you have had your fair share of fights. You and me, we won't get killed out there so stop worrying. What you really have to worry about is me finding out whatever it is you're hiding." Yang warned and that seemed to finally affect the black haired girl. Blake's eyes narrowing in suspicion as Yang wasn't sure what it was but she was hiding her own secrets. "Stay out of my way on the field." Yang said before walking off.

Blake left standing there as her bow seemed to twitch with her eyes carefully watching Yang walk away. The two weren't innocent, the two of them had things they wanted to hide. The question was who's secret would be revealed first?

"Congratulations Jaune! It must be exciting being team leader, so what is first for team JNPR? Or are we saving our training for tomorrow?" Pyrrha asked as her and Jaune walked towards their new dorm room, one that they would be sharing. Luckily for Jaune Ren was also on the team meaning he wouldn't be the only guy in the room.

"Uh... I guess we'll start with just getting to know each other better. If we're gonna be out there fighting alongside each other we have to be sure that we can trust the other can't we?" Jaune asked honestly feeling overwhelmed at the moment, both by being team leader and actually having a cute and actual kind girl to talk to. 

"That sounds wonderful! Perhaps after we could work on attack formations or team attacks like the other two had back at the forest. What was their names? Weiss and... Ruby correct?" Pyrrha asked with Jaune nodding even though he hadn't had much time to interact with either of them. Only getting to watch as they took the Nevermore out of the sky with some ice shots.

"I'm not sure if we could do anything like that but maybe with some practice-"

"Come on." Yang suddenly said grabbing Jaune by his hair and pulling him away from his conversation. Not caring much for the girl he was talking to and simply needing someone to hit. Her eyes widening as her wrist was grabbed and was stopped in her tracks. Looking back she saw the red headed girl standing there able to actually hold her there and stop her. 

"Would you kindly let him go? If you need his help you could simply ask instead of tugging him by his hair." Pyrrha said with a still calm demeanor, sounding like a teacher scolding a misbehaving student. Yang was surprised to find someone like her but released her grip on Jaunes hair and watched as Pyrrha released her grip. 

"Pyrrha it's fine she's a... Friend." Jaune said still unsure of what they were, simply aware that she was supposed to train him. "Yang this is Pyrrha Nikos, Pyrrha this is Yang.... Sorry I never got your last name." He said ignoring how the two girls seemed to behaving a small stare off. 

"EmberCelica, Yang EmberCelica." Yang said with a soft glare as she soon reached out grabbing Jaune by his arm and pulling him towards her. "You're the girl who had a Deathstalker right behind her during initiation." The blonde said as she didn't care much for any of her classmates but remembered seeing Pyrrha run from the Grimm and lead it to the rest of them. "And it's time for our training so say goodbye, you'll see her later." She ordered her new trainee only for Jaune's other arm to be grabbed and pulled back towards Pyrrha.

"I can see that you're a swordsman like Jaune so it's only fitting that you help in showing him a few things. Would it be alright for me to come along? I am his teammate after all." Pyrrha asked with Jaune once again being pulled back towards Yang. 

"This is a private session so if you would please leave, I'll be sure to return him to you later tonight." 

"Tonight? How long are these training sessions?" Pyrrha asked wondering how long the two would be out, pulling him back as Jaune tried to pull his arms free but surprising each girl appeared to be stronger than him. 

"Can I say something?" Jaune asked with Pyrrha loosening her grip while Yang simply gave an extra hard pull causing the boy to stumble past her almost falling. Pyrrha soon stepping forward only for Yang to step between her and Jaune. Pyrrhas calm demeanor slowly breaking as she found Jaune sweet and kind and yet here was some random girl pulling him around by his hair to some training session when the sun would be setting soon? "Hey come on, why dont we all take a deep breath and just calm down?" Jaune asked as he had never had two girls fight over him, except for when his sister's fought over him to put him in a dress or put make up on him.

"I just think you should be a bit nicer is all. There's no need to be so rough with him after all."

"If you have a problem with this then I won't bother with him." Yang said looking over her shoulder back at Jaune. "She has a problem with how I do things so have fun with her. I'm leaving." She said before walking towards her own dorm room.

"Wait!" Jaune quickly called out as he felt Pyrrha could train him as well but Yang wasn't just teaching him to fight, she was teaching him to survive. He wasn't sure what it was about him but something made her want to help him. She saw straight through his lack of training and experience and instead of ratting him out she chose to help him. "Pyrrha everything will be fine, she can be rough but it's not like she's gonna kill me. She has her own way of doing things is all."

Pyrrha remained there with a concerned look as she felt there was something different about Yang to begin with. "Next time please simply tell him its time to train rather than pulling his hair." She asked with Yang simply grabbing Jaunes hand and walking off with him.

"Bye Pyrrha! I'll see you in a bit!" Jaune called out with Pyrrha showing a kind smile and waving at him as he walked off... Hand in hand with another girl.

"Again." Yang suddenly ordered as she looked down at Jaune who was on his back with Yang's training certainly being even rougher than she usually was. Knowing better than to anger her though he stood back up holding his sword and shield up while moving his feet to how she ordered. Yang standing there in front of him with her swords not even drawn. In a quick rush Jaune ran towards her attempting to strike with his sword while guarding with his shield, Yang simply dodging and punching him in the face sending him to the ground once more. "Again."

"You know maybe you could give me some tips? All you did was help with my stance and tell me to attack you, I'm not really learning much." He argued as he sat up staring up at the girl.

"The only way you're gonna learn is by pain, you feel the pain and since you don't want to feel the pain again you get better. Its as simple as that." Yang said as it had been nothing but a half hour of her knocking down Jaune time and time again. Worry began to come over her as she wasn't sure what she was even supposed to do with him. 

"Yeah but at least now I have my aura to help protect me, apparently I have alot of it as well. What's that mean exactly? Can I take more hits or what are we talking about?" He asked only to suddenly be grabbed by his hoodie and brought to his feet as Yang looked at him. "Uh... Sorry?" He apologized just to be safe.

"Shut up." Yang said before letting go of his hoodie only to place her hands on his cheeks, leaning in and placing her forehead against his which caused a hint of red to come over Jaunes cheeks. He was about to ask what she was doing before feeling a familiar sensation. It was just like when Pyrrha unlocked his aura, a white glow coming over him with a yellow one coming over Yang. When Pyrrha did it it was like falling into a soft cloud but with Yang it was like standing in front of a fire during a cold winter night, you wanted to get closer to warm yourself but if you got too close you were sure to get burned. 

Yang slowly removed herself from Jaune with her hands remaining on his cheeks as she stared into his eyes. The sensation she got from Jaune's aura was unlike any she had ever felt before and it made her feel... Safe. She stared at him silently with a calm look on her face before the realization of how close they were dawned on her and before Jaune could act he received a punch to the face sending him to the ground. "Owwww.... What was that for?" 

"F-for.... You know what that was for dammit!" Yang yelled turning her back to Jaune as she simply wanted a glimpse into his aura to see how strong it was and he certainly did have a large amount of it. She didn't expect to end up staring into his eyes though with a hint of red coming over her own cheeks. 

"Hey, what did you do exactly? Pyrrha did the same thing back in the forest but that felt different from then." Jaune asked as he stood back to his feet with Yang keeping her back to him as she was struggling to calm herself.

"I gazed into your aura, you know how she unlocked it? Well she unlocked the door and I just took a glimpse inside as well to see what I was working with." Yang explained as she had only done it with her mother before when getting an explanation on how aura worked. 

"So... Its like glimpsing into someone's soul huh? Since its the manifestation of ones soul right? That's why it felt different because you and Pyrrha are two completely differently people." Jaune said with a smile just happy that he was finally learning something rather than getting hit into the ground. "Your aura felt nice by the way." Jaune said now realizing a warm campfire was a perfect feeling for Yang.

"Yeah well... I have a good amount as well so dont go thinking you're special just because you have a large amount. From what I've seen you have a very long way to go before you even earn that damn title of team leader." Yang said finally turning back to face Jaune, that calm and peaceful look she had now replaced by the usual scowl she had. 

"Team leader... Right. I mean I know that to someone like you I don't really look like a team leader and even I'm not sure why Ozpin chowe me but I am gonna try with everything I got to be a good one. Besides how can I fail when I got a teacher like you right?" Jaune asked with a smile with Yang raising at brow at his words before letting out a soft sigh. 

"At least you're not an idiot, an idiot would boast about their new found title even if they believed they weren't fit for it. You on the other hand..." Yang said walking over and looked him up and down. "You know damn well that you are in no shape to be a team leader. Which is why tomorrow morning you're going to meet me out in the courtyard for an early morning training session. And if you dont show up I will barge into your room and drag you out of bed myself."

"Yeah I got it!" Jaune quickly said knowing she would do so.

"Good, the sun's set so its about time we get going. Or at least you did I'm going to stay out here for a bit and take in the actual silence." Yang said looking up at the school as the two were currently standing out where they first exchanged blows. 

"Oh yeah okay well I guess I should get going." Jaune said waving bye and beginning to head inside only to stop in his tracks and turn around. "Actually.... I was wondering if maybe you could do something for me." He asked with Yang looking at him with a raised brow in confusion. "I saw you do it back when we were in the ruins fighting the Nevermore and Deathstalker. When you cut straight through its wing?" He asked with Yang soon realizing what he meant before glaring at him.

"Are you serious?"

"Oh come on! It was so cool and I've even been wondering how you did it ever since I saw it. Can I do it? It is a trick with you aura or something?" Jaune asked with Yang shaking her head.

"Not exactly but considering you're not going to stop bothering me till I do it I will do it for you this once. Its not some party trick after all." For the first time in the night Yang drew both of her swords and looked out at the sky making sure no birds were flying over before suddenly throwing one of her swords into the air. Jaune watching in awe as Yang waited a few seconds before holding out her hand in order for the sword to suddenly come flying back. 

"Whoa! That is so cool! How do you do it? Magnets? Aura? Is it your semblance?" 

"I showed you, so now its time for you to go. I'm going to meditate for a bit to calm my nerves so get going." Yang ordered sheathing her swords as she didn't want to reveal the secret to Jaune, not that he would understand it anyway. 

"Right! Okay well I will see you tomorrow morning!" Jaune said almost excitedly and rushed back inside as Yang watched him walk off before returning her sight back to the school. Her eyes locked on the large tower that held Ozpins office at the very top.

"Alright then, time to get to work." 

"Honestly how can he leave this to me? What is he even doing this late at night?" Glynda asked herself as she stood in Ozpins office looking over the footage of the students back at initiation on her scroll. Having to save and catalog the information since Ozpin decided to leave early. "This year's students certainly seem to have a flare to them even if some are better than others." She said looking over footage of Jaune flying through the air after getting launched by a Deathstalker. "Regardless, this year will certainly be interesting." Setting her scroll down on his desk she made her way back to the elevator and watched as the doors closed lowering her. 

As the elevator went down a blade suddenly slid through the doors to his office prying them open with a black hooded figure soon leaping into the office. Yang standing there with a black outfit covering her body along with hair, red lining along her jacket with a hood on top to cover her head and hair. Black silk fabric covering her mouth with a white fang mask covering her eyes. The silver curved dagger in her hand soon being sheathed down by her ankle with a matching one at her bicep, her attire and weapons courtesy of her mother. "So this is the office of the great Ozpin." She said having been sitting on top of the elevator waiting for Glynda to leave. Walking over to his desk she set down a black scroll that began counting upwards.

"Literal magic at your fingertips and you decide to build a school for an endless fight, what the hell are you even doing?" Yang asked as she walked over to the window gazing down at the school courtyard through the holes in her mask. Her mind quickly flashing back to when she stared into Jaunes aura as well as his eyes, a new feeling of safety and comfort having overtaken her. "Remember the mission..." She muttered to herself 

She looked in her reflection noticing Ozpins chair seeming to float off the ground before suddenly flying towards her crashing into glass as Yang leaped out the way. Quickly drawing one of her daggers as she turned to see Glynda standing there in front of her. "And what might this mission be?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally wrote a chapter that went over the initiation and what happened in Emerald forest but considering everyone already knows what happens and it only had minor changes I just rewrote it. The end also helps set up how things will really begin to change for the story of RWBY.


	4. Chapter 4

-Age 11-

It was a clear sunny day as the clouds slowly moved past the dense forest with the sun's light peaking through the large branches and down to the ground. A younger Yang laying on the ground as she watched the clouds move over her with the sun soon being revealed as the clouds moved past it. She always enjoyed the warmth of the sun as it beamed down on her face, it made her feel warm. The sun was soon blocked out though as the face of her mother blocked her view, the older Branwen looking down at her daughter with her red eyes.

"Again."

The young blonde letting out a sigh as she forced herself back up to her feet as her mother stepped back carefully watching her. Raven simply nodded with Yang soon reaching down to the ground to pick up her dual blades and tighten her grip on the handles. Both of them behinning to steadily walk in a circle watching the others movement.

"If you need a break every time I win then I dont see you ever being ready to actually use those swords. We have no time to lay in the grass and watch the clouds." Raven said as she saw Yang quickly run towards her using a sword to block any attack coming towards her while swinging the other. Her mother not even bothering to draw her own weapon as she simply moved faster than Yang could react, delivering a kick to her daughter's stomach sending her back down to the ground with her swords falling to her sides.

"Again."

Yang stared up at the sky once again but only for a split second before grabbing her sword and with red eyes quickly sat up throwing it like a spear towards her mother. Watching as she simply moved out the way for the sword to fly straight through a tree. "Your semblance is certainly a useful one, now only if you could control it." Raven said as Yang was soon right behind her swinging her sword down with enough force to send out a slash of air which blew the dirt into the air and sent her back to the ground with her sword stabbing itself into the ground.

"Dammit..." Yang muttered as she soon attempted to stand back up only for a boot to be place on her chest keeping her down to the ground.

"Control it." Raven ordered with her daughter's lilac eyes remaining red as Yang attempted to push her mother off forcing her to apply pressure on both her chest. "Now." When her daughter refused and continued Raven let out an annoyed sigh and jumped back off of her daughter. The angry blonde standing and soon rushing towards her mother delivering a fierce punch which her mother swiftly dodged. Drawing her sword and knocking Yang back a few feet placing her blade up against her daughter's neck.

Raven holding a cold stare as Yang stopped in her tracks feeling the blade against her neck and with both swords out of her hands she put her hands up. "Okay okay I give up."

That only got Yang an angry stare from her mother who grabbed her hand and threw her onto the ground twisting her arm in the process. "What have I told you? There is no giving up, out there they will not stop because you give up. They will not show you any mercy, there is no giving up to them. What rule do we live by Yang? What rule should you know?"

"The strong live... The weak die..." Yang spoke into the dirt with her arm currently being twisted and her face stuck against the dirt. It was a moment of silence before Yang was released and she soon pushed herself back to her feet rubbing her shoulder all while remaining silent. "I'll do better..."

"Let me see." Yang's arm was soon lifted causing her to flinch as Raven rolled up Yang's sleeve and rubbed her shoulder. "I treat you like this because you need to be better than any of the other children at the tribe. You always speak of how you'll exceed my expectations but you allow your emotions to control you. You're a stubborn girl which is why I need to make sure you learn what I'm trying to teach you."

"I do learn, its just that you're always alot rougher with me then you are with the other kids. Not just a bit more strict or even tougher but treating me like I always did something bad."

"Yang you are not like the other kids, one day you will be handed a powerful gift but I need to make sure you are ready for it. The swords I gave you are but a bit of the power you will one day hold in your hands. You are my blood, the only one I trust to hold that type of power. I need you to prove that you're ready for that power when the time comes." Raven soon pulled her hand away with Yang's shoulder now feeling better as she moved her arm.

She had been beaten down by her mother time and time again but she didn't hate her, she knew it was all for the right reason it just had to be. After all, they were the only family the other had. "Mom!" Yang called out catching Ravens attention. "Can we train some more?"

Raven stared at her daughter with a proud smirk before both of Yang's swords suddenly flew into Ravens hands. The older Branwen tossing them to her daughter before drawing her own blade. "I will if you can answer this question correctly. If I'm the enemy what is the one thing you never do?"

"Give up."

-Present Day-

Yang stood there silent in her dark outfit with both of her silver daggers drawn, Glynda standing in front of her with her riding crop extended as things in the office began to levitate. "What are you doing here? Who are you?" She asked with Yang remaining silent as that at least ensured her that her identity was a secret. A larger problem at the moment was her scroll which was still ticking up and not finished. "If you choose not to speak very well but don't think that you're simply going to walk out the door."

Not willing to give her more of her voice to recognize Yang quickly rushed forward slashing at Glynda who leaped back and with a flick of the wrist Yang felt herself be flung backwards into the wall. "Stay down and you wont be hurt, continue and I will not hold back." She warned

Knowing it was do or die Yang rushed back forward and right as Glynda moved her wrist Yang stabbed a dagger into the ground keeping herself from flying back. Quickly slashing at Glynda with the other dagger but as she leaped back the dagger was instead thrown knocking the riding crop out of her hand. With one still hand Yang rushed forward only to feel her arm be stopped right before it came into contact with Glyndas arm. A look of struggle on her face as the lack of her weapon made using her semblance a bit more difficult.

A sudden beep was heard as the scroll on the desk had suddenly hit 100 distracting both women giving Yang the opportunity to throw her head forward head butting Glynda who stumbled back. Grabbing the dagger on the floor and her scroll Yang ran towards the elevator opening the doors with brute force before shutting them. Now able to grab her weapon Glynda flung the doors open and rushed forward only to see no one inside. "Where in the-"

Before she could finish the elevator suddenly started falling as she caught a glimpse of the intruder on the roof of the elevator, having cut the cords connecting it to the ceiling. As it quickly fell down to the ground Glynda used her semblance to stop the elevator halfway and even began to pull it back up. Not willing to get caught Yang busted through the roof of the elevator and through the floor with her daggers allowing herself to fall but before hitting the ground stabbed her dagger into the wall slowing her descent. With only a few floors now Yang dropped down to the floor level before hearing scrapping and looked up to see the elevator falling once again.

With a quick leap out of the elevator chute Yang dodged the large metal can as it collided with the floor and wasted no time in running out of the building. Making it out the doors as Glynda landed down on top of the crushed elevator but as she rushed outside she found nobody nearby. "Dammit." Was all she could bother to say as she grabbed her head suffering a bit from the powerful hit.

Yang didn't bother to stop running till she was a good distance from the tower but once she was she allowed herself to collapse against a tree and removed her mask along with her hood allowing her to take in deep breaths of air. "Geez... Telekenesis sucks..." She said to herself taking in the fresh air before her gaze shifted down to the black scroll in her hand. "You didn't break in all that did you?" Opening the scroll she saw that it had luckily survived the fight. With a sigh of relief Yang ran over to a dark corner of the school finding a black duffel bag and quickly changed back into her regular clothes keeping the scroll on her.

After having their dorm room assigned to them the other girls were all too quick in changing the beds around to form make shifts bunk beds. Something Yang didn't think over too much as she walked into the room late at night finding her other teammates asleep but noticed Blake still wearing her bow even as she slept. After what just happened though Yang didn't give it a second thought and leaped up into her own bed pulling the covers over herself not bothering to change into her pajamas.

"And you're sure it was a white fang member? Do we have any other leads that we could go off of?" Ozpin asked as he looked over the mess in his office, things tossed around with a cut or two in his floor.

"The mask was one of theirs and it was a woman, I couldn't make out any defining features but the voice was definitely feminine. We might have more information to go off of if you would simply listen to me and install some actual security cameras in here. Its a good thing I came back for my bag otherwise we might not have even know she was here." Glynda said as she leaned back in her chair still a bit wobbly from her fight, the impact to her head having been a strong one. "One more thing though... A pair of silver daggers, have never seen any like that before."

"Silver daggers?" Ozpin asked before humming and leaning back in his chair. "We both know I enjoy my privacy here Glynda so no cameras, besides if she snuck in here that means she had to have had a place to go after stealing what she did. There are places she could have fled to hide but then again, how would you hide in an area filled with huntsman all around you?" Ozpin asked as he pulled up his scroll beginning to swipe through it.

"Well if you were completely surrounded by the enemy you would have no choice but to..... Blend in." Glynda said with the sudden realization quickly dawning on her. "You believe it could be one of the students?"

"Our female staff is low and even then we know everyone quite well ruling out the teachers. Our students on the other hand, the thing is we have plenty of capable female students who could do what you described. No signs of a semblance, hair color, eye color, all we have is a white fang mask and a pair of silver daggers. That could rule out the firearm users but at the same time that could be to lead us away from them." Ozpin stated as he looked down at a list of the female students with their pictures and available information showing.

"So we bring in every one of them and we narrow down the suspects, question them on where they were tonight and if they have any connection to the White Fang." Glynda suggested while noticing Ozpin simply swipe through his scroll.

"If they are a student that means they've already infiltrated the school, meaning they are ok one of the teams. This time is meant to form bonds and trust between your teammates. If we reveal a student is a spy then that could cause each of the new teams to be weak and fickle when it comes to teamwork."

"So what? You're suggesting we do nothing? Simply watch and see if any of them do anything suspicious?" Glynda asked raising a brow at the plan that could take months to bear any actual results.

"Not quite, I have an idea." Ozpin said confusing Glynda even more as he grabbed his scroll and slid it across his desk to her, on it four pictures, each of a member of Team RWBY.

As the sun began to rise Jaune groaned at the sound of the alarm he had set for the following morning and pushed himself out of bed tripping over his own shoes and falling down to the ground. "Ow." He reached up shutting off the alarm before changing in the bathroom and heading out to where Yang told him to meet her. The cool morning breeze definitely felt nice but he would most certainly prefer a soft pillow and a warm blanket wrapped around him. "Why so early..." He muttered as he yawned and sat down on a bench in the courtyard, a chunk seeming to be missing from the edge.

"Weird..." He whispered as he shut his eyes and allowed himself to be drifted back to sleep since he was dying to rest at the moment. Falling onto his side and snoozing as minuted passed by with the birds flying over him.

Being used to late nights out it was no trouble for Yang to wake up early in order to meet Jaune for their training. Last night's fight with Glynda showing Yang that she had to be careful who she fought here when it came to the fully trained huntsman. She wasn't allowed to ponder over last night's events for too long though as she reached the courtyard and looked for Jaune only to find him unconscious on a familiar bench. "And just what are you doing?" She softly whispered as she crouched down to be eye level with him.

She was prepared to wake him up with a harsh pull by the hair or a punch but she found herself simply watching him as he slept. He still looked like an untrained weak idiot but he looked like a peaceful one. Yang pondered over what happened the previous night when she felt his aura, wondering what he felt when he dipped his hand into hers. Whatever it was she doubted it was anything like what she felt with him. Her hand slowly reaching out to move some hair out of his face as she ran her thumbed over his cheek. A soft gust of wind blowing by them causing the small strand of curved hair sitting atop her head to momentarily be shaped like a heart before returning to its natural form.

"Yang?" Jaune suddenly asked as he slowly opened his eyes causing the other blonde to quickly stumble back bumping into someone walking by.

"Hey watch it!" A voice called out only for a blushing and flustered Yang to quickly turn and punch him sending him down to the ground.

"Shut up! Don't tell me to watch it! You watch it!" She quickly called out staring down at the brown haired male in expensive armor, Cardin if her memory was correct. Turning towards Jaune she roughly yanked him off the bench and quickly walked off with him. "Dammit come on! When I say we're training I expect you to be awake!"

Dragging Jaune by his arm and walking away with him Cardin was left to wonder if he had just accidentally stumbled over a couple sharing a moment. Nevertheless one thing he didn't like was someone seeing him easily get knocked down, his eyes narrowing in on Jaune as the two walked away.

"Hey uh... What exactly was that back there? One second I'm sleeping and the next I see you punching someone to the ground?" Jaune said as he was dragged away, something he was somehow getting used to in only his first week of school.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Yang quickly stated just happy that he didn't seem to notice her hand on his face as he woke up. Over the years Yang had learned alot from her mother and others in the tribe but one thing she never learned much about was boys besides maybe that her father was used as a stress reliever. The thought causing her to gag a bit before shaking her head. "Okay... If you're gonna get better you need to get stronger which is why you need to drop and give me forty."

"Forty what?" Jaune mindlessly asked as Yang pinched the bridge of her nose. 

"Push ups..." She muttered while at the same time wondering how she even started having these kinds of thoughts about Jaune of all people.

"So you see the newest episode last night?"

"No Garry I didn't." A loud boom was heard behind two White Fang grunts as an explosion went off over their heads inside the warehouse they were working at. The two of them along with the few other members turning towards the source of the explosion which was an orange haired man in a white suit who walked out with his signature hat and cane.

"Okay, now that I have your attention I have a question. Who decided to go and start running around Beacon?" Roman Torchwick asked looking between the currently present members who all looked at him in confusion. "Whispers in the street are that a White Fang member decided to crash Beacon last night and wrecked an elevator. So which one of you was it?" Torchwick asked as he had unfortunately woken up to the sudden news that his henchmen were out doing their own thing.

He waited patiently for a response and when not receiving one he tapped his cane on the ground. "So no ones gonna speak up huh? Okay then, I tried to be nice here." Holding out his cane a small cap popped up off the bottom revealing a small sight. He aimed it at the White Fang member furthest from their collected dust and fired off a shot. The shot flying towards him only to be countered by a fireball coming from above. "What the?"

"People are a resource Roman, you're not squandering ours are you?" A voice spoke from above, a woman hiding in the shadows with only the bottom of a red dress able to be seen in the light. Standing on a metal walkway with her eyes gazing down at Roman.

"One of them decided to go and start messing with Beacon, I was-"

"I know what you're trying to do." She said interrupting him. "I will deal with whoever was at Beacon last night, for now you continue on with what you have been told to do. I hope the next time we talk you'll actually have some good news." She simply appeared to disappear as Roman bit back his tongue and walked out of the warehouse.

"And this is why I don't work with goons. This is sooner that I thought but hopefully she's finished up what's she's been doing." Roman said while pulling out his scroll, beginning to type out a message.

R-How soon can you be here? I need some capable help.

N-All you had to do was ask


	5. Chapter 5

\- Age 12-  
Yang stood out in the middle of a snowy field with her breath able to be seen due to the cold air surrounding her. Her long golden locks more wild than usual as she looked forward with her arms feeling twice as heavy. A blade in each hand as she dragged her feet through the snow with her red and black outfit hidden under a thin cloak which provided very little protection from the cold. Her teeth chattering as she looked up to see a pair of red eyes lunging towards her, the two blades in her hands quickly slicing through the Grimm before she fell to her knees. The cold and hours of walking starting to affect her more and more with each passing second. 

"Dammit.... Mom...." She muttered as this was supposed to be her training and yet she felt as if it was more some type of punishment from her mother. Her hands barely able to grip her swords due to the cold as she turned around to see one last Grimm approaching her. "Come on Yang...." She said to herself as she tried to stand back up only to be tackled by the Beowolf. A single blade in her hand as pressed the blade into its mouth in an attempt to keep it from biting down on her face with her other blade out of arms reach. Her arms quickly giving out as she stared up at those red eyes with fear truly beginning to build in the young girl. "Help! Mom! Help!" She cried out in hopes a portal would open up to save her. Tears beginning to build up as the Grimm's fangs grew closer and closer. 

A blade suddenly cutting through its neck decapitating it with it slowly fading as Yang allowed her body to sink into the snow. "Thank you. Thank you." Yang said in a soft tone with tears streaming down her cheeks along with snot building in her nose. Her eyes slowly drifting shut with a hooded figure looming over her with a confused look holding Yangs other sword.

It would be a few hours before Yang opened her eyes with a warm blanket now wrapped around her along with a pillow under her head. A smile coming to her face as she knew her mother wouldn't abandon her in the cold. The sound of wood burning able to be heard nearby with Yang opening her eyes not to see the familiar tent she had been living in for years but rather a cave with a small fire to the side. Quickly sitting up she looked around spotting a small hooded figure on the other side of the fire. Reaching for her blades at her waist she felt nothing and saw them sitting beside the hooded figure. "Who are you? What do you want?" Yang quickly asked

This caught the figures attention who reached up and pulled back her dirty brown hood. A girl around the age of Yang sitting there with messy and dirty black hair along with green eyes being what was hiding under the hood. A few fish currently cooking over the fire, she grabbed one and held it out to Yang offering a kind smile. 

-Present Day-   
An Atlas airship flew through the clouds with the pilot pressing a few buttons and flipping a few switches before pressing down on the speaker. "We will be arriving shortly at our destination, please remain seated for the remainder of the flight." 

"Hmm." The only passenger hummed in response as she looked over some photos on her scroll, soon switching over to her messages and quickly typing one out before hitting send. A smile coming to her face as she looked outside the window with her destination certainly close, Beacon Academy. She stretched out her feet with a soft yawn before finally feeling the ship descend and land in no time with her quickly making her way to the exit. A large door sliding open with a ramp descending, none other than Winter Schnee walking down the ramp taking in the fresh morning sun. 

A few students had gathered to see who would walk out the airship but many quickly dispersed when seeing a member of the Schnee family. Walking down the pathway towards the school she noticed how many huntsmen and huntresses in training nowadays seemed much more carefree with some even napping out on the benches. "Honestly...." She muttered only for a familiar voice to speak up behind her.

"Cut the kids some slack, a nap does us all some good." Qrow Branwen said as Winter turned towards him with a smirk coming to her face.

"Easy for you to say given how you rarely have to report to anyone, always out on your own on those special little missions."

"And yet traveling the world I always seem to be running into a certain someone." Qrow responded with the two holding a soft smirk towards each other. 

In the dorms two blondes walked side by side with one of them remaining spotless and clean while the other was covered in dirt and scratches from being tossed around and beaten. "Okay so I think that maybe we should start working out in the gym? It would really help save me some time given that I won't have to wash and polish my armor every time we do train." Jaune said remembering how Yang pushed him into the ground with every push up he did to help him as she put it.

"I do better in the woods, its where I did alot of my own training." Yang replied a bit too carefree as she immediately realized what she had said and grit her teeth. 

"Oh so you used to live out in a forest area? Or at least trained there?" Jaune asked curiously with Yang remaining silent with her fist quickly tightening, fear building in Jaune as he felt he might very well get hit. "Uh... If you don't want to talk about it its fine. Was just a bit curious is all." He quickly said with Yang looking at him before letting out an annoyed sigh and relaxing.

"Yeah.... I trained out in the forest alot with my master. After my parents were killed in a Grimm attack I was taken in by an elderly gentlemen who showed me how to defend myself and to defeat Grimm. He passed away a year ago though and these blades are all I have to remember him." Yang explained with Jaune feeling bad for her, being an orphan because of Grimm attacks wasn't something new in this world but it still hurt Jaune knowing that people had to go through that. 

"Hey listen Yang if you ever just want to... Talk my door is always open. We don't always have to be training or studying to just hang out like maybe go to the library or even go grab a bite to eat. And uh.... I'm sorry to hear about your parents I'm sure that they were good people." Jaune said sincerely and even reached out to give Yang a hug only to suddenly be shoved away and pressed against a wall by the angry blonde who had been training him. "Sorry! Sorry." He said quickly apologizing.

Yang held a cold stare towards Jaune as she slowly pulled herself away and crossed her arms. "I don't do hugs, you should know that by now." She said as she was surprised at her words, in the time she had been here of all people she had gotten somewhat close to was the cu- clueless idiot that could barely use a sword. "If you want to work out in the gym then we can but that just means I'll be working you in front of other people. And stop apologizing so much otherwise people are just gonna push you around." 

"Right! Well I guess I'll see you later Yang, even if its just getting pushed around by you I enjoy our training." Jaune said with a smile only for Yang to scoff and walk away quickly reaching the door to her dorm room with Jaune lacking behind. 

A faint shade of red over her cheeks as she refused to believe that smile was cute and opened her door walking into her room only to find the heiress vacuuming the carpet with the red hooded one dusting and organizing everything in sight. Her eyes shifting over to the ribbon wearer who was reading a book and twitched any time the vacuum went near her. "Okay... What the hell is going on? What's with all the cleaning?"

"That is none of your concern and secondly watch your language." Weiss quickly responded with Yang giving her unamused look before reaching over and tugging the plug to the vacuum out with her foot. "Ugh! Do you really have to cause trouble for me every day? Is that on your planner?" Weiss asked walking to Yang and reached down for the plug only for Yang to quick it away with her foot. 

"No but I think I had teach a spoiled princess some manners on my calendar for today." Yang said as the two girls place their hands on the hilts of their respective weapons waiting for the other to make the first move. 

"Enough!" Ruby yelled quickly zooming over in a blur of petals and to get between the two and pushed Weiss back a few feet scared to even touch Yang. "We have to finish cleaning remember? Just let her win this time." Ruby begged with Weiss reluctantly nodding as Ruby plugged the vacuum cleaner back in and continued dusting. "And if you really want to know why we're cleaning its because Weiss' sister is coming by to visit today. She's a strict army specialist or something so we have to make sure this place is as clean as possible." Ruby explained to Yang who immediately tensed up at the news.

"A military specialist?" Yang asked with Weiss nodding as she soon turned off the vacuum cleaner. 

"Yes, an Atlas Specialist to be specific and I expect both of you to be on your best behavior while she is here. I don't worry about you Blake but a certain someone is always looking for a fight." Weiss said with Ruby groaning as she really didn't want any fighting today but to her surprise she saw Yang turn to leave. 

"No need to worry about me Princess, I have some things to take care of today anyway." Opening the door Yang walked out of the room not wanting to risk meeting Weiss' sister in case she were to be recognized and linked to a few high profile jobs she had done over the past few years. Walking across the hall she banged the door loudly with a familiar red head opening the door.

"Coming!" A voice called out only for Yang to come face to face with Pyrrha, they had only really interacted once and yet Yang could tell they weren't going to get along. "Yang correct?" She asked with Yang nodding in response. "If you're here looking for Jaune he's currently in the shower, that training you two do always brings him back quite a mess." Pyrrha said with a hint of tone angering Yang who simply smiled in response.

"Yeah well we can get pretty rough when we are training. But Jaune is a big boy, he can handle himself while we're out. Trust me I've seen just how strong he can be at times." Yang said with her smile quickly becoming a smirk. "Just came by to tell him that im taking him up on his offer. Tell him to call me once he's out so we can decide where to go eat." Yang said surprising Pyrrha who simply forced a smile onto her face.

"Of course, I'll be sure to tell him once he's out." With that the red head quickly shut the door with Yang walking down the hall not wanting to linger around any longer than she had to.

"And done!" Ruby said looking at the now spotless room that had been thoroughly cleaned by the two girls. "Your sister said that she would be by once she was done talking with professor Ozpin right?" She asked receiving a nod from Weiss. "Did she mention my uncle?" 

"No, you know how he is on his missions." Weiss stated with Blake peeking out from behind her book for a moment.

"Ruby you don't come from money do you?" She curiously asked receiving no as the answer.

"I grew up on a small island called Patch with my parents and my dog."

"Sorry it's just that... The Schnee family is pretty exclusive with who they let into their inner circle and you and Weiss seem pretty close. And does your uncle work with her sister?" Blake asked with Ruby quickly grinning and putting an arm around Weiss. 

"I may not be rich or fancy but me and Weiss are still best friends. We met when we were both little, my uncle had been working with her sister when they decided to arrange that playdate." Ruby explained with Weiss nodding in agreement.

"I didn't have many friends because of my father's standards but my sister convinced him to allow Ruby around me. And even though we got off to a bit of a rocky start...." Weiss said glaring at Ruby who let out a soft sigh.

"I told you I'm sorry about the ring incident! How long are you gonna hold that over me? I told you that I didn't see the cat! What was the cat even doing on the tree to begin with?"

Weiss simply looked at her best friend with a soft glare before turning towards Blake. "Regardless me and her are as she puts it, Super Besties better than the resties." 

"Oh okay then, so does your uncle work for Atlas as well then?"

"Nope, him and Weiss' sister did a few jobs together in the past before finally dating and now they're even engaged!." Ruby explained with a smile while across the school in the confined space of an elevator Winter was slammed up against the wall of the elevator with Qrow quickly leaning in for a heated and aggressive kiss. Her hands running through his hair and giving it a tug as she pushed him back and into the opposite wall. Her hands moving to his chest and she leaned in with an eager smile. 

"You just couldn't wait till tonight could you?" She asked as the second the doors shut he pulled her close to him and took her lips for his own.

"I rarely get to see you, you think I'm gonna waste a single moment we have alone?" He whispered with his hands grabbing her hips, quickly spinning them around so she was once again trapped. Leaning in to press his lips against her neck with Winter instinctively leaning her head to the side to give him more space. "You think we got enough time for a quickie? Wouldn't be the first time we did it an elevator." He reminded with a devilish grin as his hips grinded into hers giving both of them so well needed friction.

"Oh don't remind me... I was never able to get that stain out my dress." Winter said in a soft moan as her leg soon wrapped around Qrow's with his lips and teeth continuing to attack her neck with small love bites. Her arms wrapping around his neck as she could feel him grind his hips into hers just how she need and bit down on her lower lip.

"Yeah but we both know it was worth it, you looked better without the damn thing on anyway." Qrow said before once again capturing her lips once again as the two moaned into the kiss as his hand finally wandered down to her back side giving it a firm squeeze. A soft ding being heard as the elevator doors quickly opened with Ozpin and Glynda sitting at his desk. 

"I'm glad you two could make it on such short notice." Ozpin said as he looked at the elevator, the two of them now standing there separated with their arms by their sides even if their clothes were a bit wrinkled. "Take a seat, and apologies if the elevator felt a bit unstable. We did our best to repair it after last night's incident but Glynda here did do a number on it." Ozpin explained receiving a harsh glare from Glynda who stood to the side with a large scroll in hand. 

"Yeah sure, that's the reason it was a bit unstable." Qrow replied with a smirk only to receive a harsh elbow to the side from Winter who let out a soft sigh. "Deserved that..." The bad luck charm groaned in response. Winter simply stepping forward as Glynda handed her the scroll with a security footage from the entrance showing the masked stranger running out of the building.

"Your message laid out the basic information surrounding the break in but I don't understand what you need the two of us here for. The White Fang is not an organization that can be easily dismantled and if they truly are here at the school then simply run a background check on the students and see if any of them are Faunus or have a close connection to them. What did they even steal anyway? The footage doesn't show them making off with anything." Winter asked while zooming in on the intruder, unable to make out any defining traits besides a White Fang mask and Silver daggers. 

"She stole sensitive data, that's all I can tell even the two of you about what was taken." Ozpin explained with the two guests giving each other a puzzled look.

"Still as grey and mysterious as usual huh Oz? Fine, we won't ask what type of data she stole but you still aren't telling us what you want us here for? You got capable enough huntsmen here who could sniff out a rat." Qrow stated knowing full well that Oz himself could find the mole if he wanted to, his past may be a bit shady but Qrow knew for sure that he was capable.

"Yes well...." Clearing his throat Ozpin stood up from his chair grabbing his cane and walked towards the two of them. "If there is a mole here at the school I can't allow for that type of information to spread. Which is why the two of you are here visiting your sister and niece, getting a tour of the school, hearing about their classmates, and simply refusing to leave any time soon." He gave the two of them a stern look before tapping his cane on the ground. "Are we clear?"

"You owe us for this Oz, how does a deposit on our Venue sound?" Qrow asked before nudging his future wife. "What do you say? Unless you prefer cash up front." 

Given the question and the opportunity Winter looked to the side putting aside her professional status for just a bit. "I suppose that would be sufficient compensation for the task given." She said quietly with a blush coming over her, always feeling some bad thrill whenever Qrow put her in situations like this.

"Very well, congratulations by the way. Glynda will make the arrangements as well as send you the information we have on the students here that could very well be the mole. Do remember that this is not to leave this room however, news of a mole in the school could very well lead to teams crumbling apart and future huntsmen unable to effectively work together." With that bleak warning the two entered the elevator with Winter immediately beginning to look over students on her scroll.

"A spy in the school, to think that the White Fang reaches as deep as Beacon. Do you think they're aware of the Maiden? The relic?" 

"Nah, White Fang ain't concerned with stuff on that level. At least not for now, given the recent robberies they're more concerned with powering something up given the amount of dust they've been stealing." Qrow mentioned with hand slowly reaching out towards Winter only for her to step away. "Oh come on, things were getting good before those doors opened." 

"You know the rules." She replied setting her scroll back into her pocket before crossing her arms. "While working we remain professional, after all we nearly got caught dry humping each other by Ozpin and Glynda. With the amount of students here at the school we also have alot of work to do if we are going to locate the mole." Winter explained with Qrow rolling his eyes as the doors opened.

"Fine, we will act all professional but Oz did ask us to not alert anybody about this so I think I'm gonna go visit my niece. You care to join me Snowflake?" He asked walking forward with Winter simply following behind him.

"So uh... When I said we could go out to lunch together I didn't expect you to accept the offer so quickly." Jaune said with a sheepish smile as he sat across from Yang while she took a large bite out of her second burger with a milkshake and pile of fries to the side. "Its nice though... Pretty nice..." He quietly said as he was clueless as to what to say. After getting out the shower he was told by Pyrrha that Yang would like to go to lunch which did put a smile on his face. Problem was that without any yelling or punching they finally had a chance to just talk, but about what? He had absolutely no idea.

"The princess has her sister coming by to visit and I didn't feel like being around for that. If she's anything to go by then her sister must be twice as bad." Not even bothering to finish chewing her food Jaune found himself simply nodding at the girl who had very little for table manners. "Wow this is good." She said never having had the chance to eat a fast food burger. "What about you? You got a sister or a brother?"

"Hmm?" Thinking back to his sister's Jaune let out a soft chuckle and scratched the back of his head before nodding. "Yeah... Seven sisters to be exact, seven... Sisters..." Jaune loved his sister's but thinking back to how they always dressed him up and teased him it was nice having some time away from them. "What about you? If you don't mind talking about it.... When you told me about your past you didn't bring up a brother or sister."

"Sibling? No just-" Feeling a soft buzz in her pocket Yang pulled out her scroll seeing a message from a blocked number with a set of coordinates and a time. "I should get going."

"Wait is everything alright?" Jaune asked receiving no response as Yang simply stood up from her chair and walked off back towards the dorms. Her steps quick in speed as she knew very well what this was about given how cryptic the message was. Having to run out on Jaune she at least hoped that the bill didn't come out too high, somehow feeling bad for him it was. Shaking her head in an attempt to push that kind of thought away Yang reached her room and opened the door only to find her fearless leader with an older man, both on the ground playing a game on their scrolls. 

"I got you now!" Ruby exclaimed only to stop and pause the game, turning around to see Yang and immediately stand up. "Oh uncle Qrow this is my last teammate that I was telling you about, her name is Yang."

"Well nice to meet you Y-" standing up from his spot on the ground Qrow froze when seeing Yang standing there in the doorway. His eyes locked on hers as the three of them were silent with Ruby being the first to clear her throat.

"Um... Yang this here is my Uncle Qrow, he's engaged to Weiss' sister and came along with her to visit." Ruby explained with Yang simply nodding as she walked into the room towards her bag laying on her bed. 

"Right... He always stare at your teammates like that?" She asked throwing the bag over her shoulder with Qrow letting out a small laugh, rubbing his eyes before shaking his head. 

"Sorry about that... You kind of look like someone I know." He explained looking at Yang who simply nodded in response and made her way towards the door. 

"Right... Well I have something to do. And if Jaune comes by tell him... You know what just don't tell him anything." Yang explained with Ruby nodding in response, the blonde unsure of why Jaune always seemed to be lingering in the back of her mind recently. "Maybe it has something to do when I looked into his aura...." She muttered to herself shutting the door behind her. 

"Well there you go Uncle Qrow, you already knew Weiss and you met Blake earlier so now you know my entire team. What do you think?" Ruby asked only to notice the shift in her uncle's attitude, the cool and confident man she always looked up to was now dazed and confused. "Are you alright Uncle Qrow?" She asked reaching out and grabbing his hand which seemed to bring him back. Even if he did look a bit uncertain about something.

"Yeah... Yeah I'm fine kiddo, your team looks great Ruby. Hey I'm gonna be here for a while so why don't you show me around later? For now I gotta go take care of some top secret stuff." Ruby always loved this secret spy type of life her uncle lived and nodded in agreement as he walked out of the room. Letting out a shaky breath once he was out of the room before making his way to Winter's airship. Even changing into his bird form to fly right over everyone in his way and past the two guards overlooking her airship.

"Alright dammit, shady crap begins going down involving Ozpin? I know you have to be involved." Taking a seat at Winter's desk he quickly pulled up all the available data Oz gave the two of them and began scrolling through it. 

As Yang made her way through the crowd and out of the school grounds she found herself walking right into the heart of Vale with numerous people shopping and going about their day. "Really wish I could have finished lunch with Jaune..." She muttered to herself finding a fast food joint not too different from the one Jaune took her to. Her mind wondering to what he could be doing right now before hearing a whistle blow. 

"Stop him!" A man yelled out as Yang quickly turned seeing a blonde monkey tailed boy run right past her. Her hand instinctively went to the hilt of her sword before allowing the boy to run right past her with what appeared to be boat crew chasing right behind him.

"Not my problem." Yang said to herself before walking on ahead, following the coordinates she was given into what appeared to be an alley of all places. The coordinates quickly disappearing on her scroll leaving her there to wait for what she assumed would be a portal. Tapping her foot she groaned after just a few seconds only to hear someone clear their throat behind her. Turning with a harsh glare coming to her face. "Of all people she sent you?"

Winter made her way back to her airship after having had tea with Weiss with he two guards quickly saluting her. The ramp lowering and the door opening as she made her way towards her bedroom only to find her groom to be sitting at her desk with a few papers scattered around it. "If only you could put this amount of effort into every assignment you were given." She teased walking over and watched as Qrow quickly spun around in his chair.

"It's raven." He simply stated with Winter simply nodding to allow him to explain himself. "Okay look, right here." Qrow said pulling up Yang's photo onto the screen which was enough for Winter to put it together, that didn't stop Qrow from explaining however. "Yang Embercilica, blonde hair, lilac eyes, appropriate age, uses swords, parents are apparently deceased, almost no information on her in any of the schools databases. It's just too perfect Winter, this has to be Raven sending her in as some type of spy. It makes too much sen-" 

Qrow was silenced as a pair of arms wrapped around him pulling him into a tight hug, a soft kiss being placed on the top of his head as Winter simply held him. "Qrow, we have been in this type of situation time and time again. Blonde hair, lilac eyes, appropriate age, there is a resemblance between her and your sister but it doesn't mean she is her daughter. And plenty of students have lost their parents, overlooking a few files Nora Valkerie is an orphan as well. There is always a chance this is her but please Qrow, please don't place all of your hope on this."

He simply sat there listening to every word, his arms slowly wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer to him. "Dammit... I know you're right, but... Its my fault Winter. I should have been there, I should have been there to help. Instead Summer got permanently injured and Tai lost his daughter! All because of me!" Qrow yelled gritting his teeth before taking a deep breath. "I have to find her..."

"And we will, we'll keep looking for her no matter what. Even though we don't have any concrete evidence this is her we can find some. Once we do I promise you that you will take her home." Winter whispered before crouching down to place her hand on Qrow's cheek and look into his eyes. "You went to a dark place back then, one that I don't ever want to see you in again. I helped you to get out but I can't keep you from going back in so I need you to promise me that you will keep that promise you made to me."

"Yeah... Yeah I promise Winter, I don't wanna go back there either." Qrow responded before pulling her in for another comforting hug. He knew he couldn't get his hopes up but at the same time, that's what kept him from turning back into the mess he was. His mind soon flashing back to the night his niece was taken by his own sister, the night he truly found out what his semblance was capable of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter even if it did take very long to come out. As implied the next chapter will focus on Qrow and what he did after that fateful night. Hopefully I don't take too long with that chapter though.


	6. Chapter 6

Snow began to fall over the small village as a pair of beer bottles clanked against each other, Taiyang and Qrow sitting at a bar counter with a drink in their hands. A smile on both their faces as Qrow easily took a large swig of his beer only to notice his friend staring hesitantly at his. "Hey I paid for it so you better drink it, besides once we get back Raven is probably gonna yell at you for going out to drink." Qrow reminded only receiving a soft nod as a response. "Okay I've asked before and I'll ask again, just what the hell do you see in my sister? And Tai you say anything about her body and I will smash this bottle over your head."

"Relax Qrow, it goes alot deeper than that honestly." Tai said as he leaned back in his stool thinking back to his partner waiting at the small cabin not too far away. "I guess its because she comes off so standoffish that I like her, you know me, the guy to always make puns and make people laugh so when she wouldn't even smile at my puns that just made me want to make her smile even more. We fought together, against enemies and each other, shared stories about our pasts, and eventually I got that smile without even having to make a pun."

Qrow sat there watching his friend speak of his sister as if she wasn't some cold calculated Grimm slaying monster and eventually took a sip out of his beer. "Yeah well... I guess even the meanest of birds have something to like about them."

"Not to mention she is pretty hot." Tai quickly said receiving a glare from Qrow which only made him laugh. Finally bringing his bottle up to his lips only for the doors to the bar to slam open with Summer falling to the ground afterwards. 

"Summer!"

"Summer!"

Both men quickly called out quickly rushing over to help her up with both immediately seeing the blood staining her white hood, the blood appearing to slide down her arm that appeared limp. Her skin beginning to turn pale from loss of blood and the cold air. With one good arm she reached out grabbing Tai's arm forcing her eyes to remain open. "Raven.... Raven...." She whispered out as Qrow quickly grabbed a first aid kit from behind the bar and rushed back. 

"What? Is she okay? What about the baby? What happened Summer?" Tai asked as Qrow pulled back her hood only to see the blood continuing to pour out of the wound and down her arm. Grabbing some bandages he quickly began to wrap up the wound to buy them enough time to get her to an actual doctor. 

"No... No Raven... She took.... She took the baby..." Summer whispered with Tai simply looking down at her confused, his eyes shifting to Qrow who had a look of shock on his face. 

"What do you mean she took the baby? Were you two attacked? Who did this?" Tai asked only to watch Summer's body finally beginning to give out as she slowly shut her eyes, with a pulse still coursing through her body though Tai picked her up in his arms. "Dammit we gotta get her to a doctor, whoever did this got her good." The blonde man said only to see his dark haired companion walking towards the exit. "Qrow! You go check at the house and see if Raven's there!"

"Yeah, I'll go check on Raven." Qrow said keeping his back to Tai as he didn't want him to see his face, anger boiling with his teeth grinding before he finally ran out and immediately changed form into an actual Crow. His wings flapping as quickly as they could but not in the direction of the house, instead he flew out the outskirts of the island before finally finding what he was looking for. In mid air changing back to his regular form, falling back down only to draw his sword and cut through a pair of large wooden doors. Walking through the rubble into a small tribe that appeared to be completely absent. "RAVEN!"

Even though it appeared empty footsteps could soon be heard before his sister finally stepped out from behind a tent with her piecing red eyes meeting his. A silence between the two of them as she had her hand on the hilt of her sword, slowly approaching him. "I take it that Summer had enough strength to make it to the bar you two were at? The one with the skimpy waitresses?" She asked only for Qrow's blade to drop, shots ringing out from his weapon only for Raven to quickly open a portal taking them in and creating one behind Qrow only for him to dodge his own shots. "In complete honesty I thought you would be at that bar all night, drinking away your feelings of sadness and regret."

"Where is the baby?" Qrow asked with his blade reattaching to form his sword with his grip tight on it. "I thought we agreed we were done with this? Done with this type of life! What the hell happened to you and Tai settling down to raise that girl!?" His yells echoed through the empty tribe only for Raven to stare at him with a cold stare

"We talked, you decided, I never agreed to not come back. And settle down? Raise the baby? I suppose we could have comfortable safe jobs as well where we didn't have to fight dangerous Grimm as well couldn't we?" She asked before scoffing at the thought. "Think about the world we live in Qrow, you can't simply raise a family in this world. We have all seen what these Grimm are capable of, of what is really out there behind all of this. How we have no chance of winning this endless war."

"So what? You decide to take an infant and run? To stab Summer in the shoulder and leave Tai thinking that something could have happened to you and the baby? There are horrible things out there Raven but together we have a shot at actually standing a chance! At having a life where we don't have to be looking over our shoulders every five minutes!" Even though he wanted to kill her Qrow looked into her eyes and set his sword against his back surprising his sister. "Its not too late, I know you're scared but we can win. I know what you're thinking, that you'll train her to be some great warrior who can protect herself but you're stealing her life from her. One where she'll have two parents, one where she'll learn to fight and make friends, one where she won't get branded for not following the rules."

Qrow slowly stepped forward only for Raven to hold up her blade, each stepping bringing it closer to her brothers chest till the tip of the sword was finally against his chest. "You know that if you do this I am never gonna stop looking for you so you better kill me now Raven." He said grabbing the blade and aimed it right at his heart. "Or we can go back, it's not too late for you to make things right. Summer's wound will heal but if you do this there's no going back." 

"Qrow...." Slowly lowering her blade tears began to roll down her cheeks only for her the sword to suddenly be driven through the male Branwens chest. A look of shock on his face as he could feel blood seeping out his mouth, all while he looked into his sister's teary eyes. "We both saw her face, those red eyes, what she could do.... There are no happy endings if I go back." Pulling her blade back Qrow fell back onto the ground staring up at the snow slowly fall with a pool of blood forming under him. The sound of a portal opening up being the last thing he heard before his eyes finally drifted shut. 

\- 5 years missing-  
Multiple shots rang out through the forest only for screams to follow right behind them as a group of bandits ran through the woods with each of them being slowly picked off one by one. Some tried to stand and fight only to be defeated moments later, others tried to run but it was pointless, the same fate awaited them all. As a tall man with curly hair and dirt covered clothes found his gun out of ammo he quickly ducked behind a large fallen tree trunk in an attempt to reload his weapon. "Come on, come on." His hands too shaky to properly load his weapon he soon looked up to see a large sword come down on him, rendering him unconscious. 

Hours passed till he opened his eyes only now he found himself in what looked like a scene from a horror movie, his arms and legs strapped to a chair while he sat in some shady run down cabin. He tried to move but instead felt his hair grabbed from behind and roughly pulled upwards. Gritting his teeth he tried to hold back his screams only to feel strands of his hair forcefully pulled right out of his scalp. "What the hell...." He said in a quiet pained voice.

Someone moved behind him only for a chair to soon be placed in front of him before Qrow took a seat with his blade already in hand. A tired expression on his face with only some anger showing, a look that certainly didn't mix with his actions earlier. The dark haired man remained silent before reaching into his shirt and pulling out a folded piece of paper, unfolding it to reveal a map to the tied up bandit. "I know she's around here somewhere, and you're gonna tell me where. And once you do it better match up exactly with what your buddies told me."

"Hey come on man we were just-" Qrows blade quickly dropped with the trigger being pulled as he shot the bandits foot forcing him to yell. 

"From the looks of it that hit you pretty hard, probably knocked out most of your aura. You probably wont be so lucky with the next one." Qrow warned pressing the barrel of his weapon up against the bandits knee before nodding towards the map. 

"Okay okay! But listen you gotta protect me, you know what they do to people that betray them. I've seen it myse-" Another shot rang out, this time with tears streaming down the man's face as he was sure he wouldn't be able to walk on his left leg any more. "She's two miles east of the village on there..." He cried out as blood dripped down his ankle with the barrel soon being pressed again his chin. 

"What about the child? Is she alive? Well? What has she been taught?"

"Please don't do this..." The bandit pleaded only to feel it pressed into his chin even harder. "She's alive! She treats her better than she treats anybody, I swear!" The two looked at each other with Qrow pulling the trigger only for the man to scream, except nothing happened, he looked forward to find that he was still there tied up. A smile of relief coming to his face till he felt an arm wrap around his neck from behind tightening more and more as a hand pushed his head down. 

"I told you... What you wanted!" He said as best as he could feeling what little oxygen he had fading as Qrow simply tightened his grip on the bandit. His arms and working leg fighting against the restraints only for his body to fall limp as Qrow slowly pulled away with the bandits head falling downwards. Grabbing his sword Qrow attached it to his waist and walked out the cabin.

\- 8 years missing-  
It was a quiet night in the bar that Qrow was currently at, his head resting on the bar counter with a bottle of scotch sitting beside his half empty glass. His weapon attached to the back of his waist with it being intimidating enough to keep any other bar patrons from bothering him, not because it was a large sword but because there was blood dripping off of it. After his recent search efforts he found himself needing a drink and something about this bar just seemed to pull him in.

"I ain't one to go digging into people's business but you mind scooting down to the end of the bar? You're kind of keeping people from coming up and ordering a drink." The bartender requested with a smile on her face as she looked down at the drunk raise his head. Short blonde hair only reaching her shoulders with some freckles on her nose. A pair of blue overalls covering a checkered shirt with a pair of brown boots on. 

Staring up at her Qrow only wished her brown eyes were a different color, at least then he might have a bit more hope. With a silent nod he grabbed his bottle and stumbled down to the edge of the bar counter before taking another sip of his alcohol. Shutting his eyes he soon found himself drifting asleep only to immediately be awoken by yelling. "Get your greasy paws off of me!" Quickly sitting up Qrow grabbed his head looking over at the bartender being grabbed by a larger bearded man with four others sitting around the table with him. "I said let go!" Throwing a punch the poor bartender watched as the man stood up pulling her closer.

"Come here." He whispered leaning in for a kiss only for the table to suddenly explode as Qrow now stood with his blade dropped and his finger on the trigger. Having aimed for the man himself but the table worked as well. 

"Why don't you let the pretty lady go and we can have a nice friendly chat outside?" Qrow asked with the man pushing her away as he and his friends soon stood up with all of them nearing Qrow. "That's better, since you let her go I'll let you guys walk out the door without me beating the crap out of you." His speech slightly slurred and his feet unsteady the men looked at him confused before grinning. "Alright, looks like I'm gonna have to kick your asses."

Sounds of yelling could be heard from outside as two loud shots rang out with table and chairs clearly being broken until Qrow was suddenly thrown through the bar window and out onto the street. A few bruises already on his face as he chuckled to himself, pushing himself to his feet only to feel a bottle thrown at the back of his head. "Not so tough now are ya?" The larger man called out walking through the door with his friends behind him, Qrows sword now in his hand. 

"Yeah well it is five on one... I had to go easy on you guys." Qrow retorted receiving a kick to the side as he was soon pulled to his feet by two of the men. His own blade pressed against his neck as the man grinned, raising up the sword and ready to bring it down only for a large Beowolf to suddenly leap down in front of him with a fierce roar. Its hand quickly smacking him away while the other men ran leaving Qrow to fall on the ground. Doves suddenly flying overhead as he laid there dizzy, tired, hungry, and beaten.

"You arrogant fool." A familiar voice called out with the last thing Qrow seeing being White. His eyes soon opened as he found himself in an actual soft bed with the room he was in appearing to be that of a fancy hotel. As he tried to sit up he immediately groaned feeling a sharp pain all through his body which was now shirtless with bandages and stitches lining his body. Gritting his teeth he forced his body to move through willpower alone only for the door to quickly open and Winter to run in pushing him back down. "Stay down!"

"Ahh! That hurts!" Qrow simply yelled back with a harsh look on his face as Winter pulled her hands back standing up. "Schnee.... Far from Atlas ain't ya?" He asked looking her up and down, her usual military attire now reduced down to a pair of jeans and a buttoned up white blouse, even her hair which was always in a neat bun was let down. 

"General Ironwood requested that I locate you and bring you to him, he is aware of your recent actions and would like to have a word. Even given your.... Actions it has been rather difficult to locate you. Now rest otherwise I will have to sedate you for the rest of the flight."

"Flight?" It soon dawned on Qrow that this was basically a hotel room, it was just located on a military airship taking him to see Ironwood. "Dammit Schnee... You got alot of nerve dragging me onto this ship while I was passed out."

"Nerve? Excuse me, when I found you you were about to be beheaded! You should be grateful that I even bothered to save you after all the crime scenes I've been forced to examine in my search for you. How one man could be capable of doing such things I will never understand." Winter stated with Qrow groaning at every little motion his body made given his injuries not just from last night but the past few weeks. The former Heiress looking at the work done by the medical team before her eyes landed on a large scar poking out from under the bandages. "Is that..."

"None of your business." Qrow already knew what her eyes landed on, the scar he was most famous for nowadays, his sister having been so kind in delivering it to him. Placing his hand over it he shut his eyes all while Winter took a seat on the bed.

"If I may speak as not a Military Specialist but as someone who has understands family not being the kindest people. You have people that still care you and in this rampage you have gone on there's a chance you might not survive. I understand what happened but-" Winter was silenced as in an instant Qrow was upright with his hand squeezing her arm.

"Dont you ever say that again." Qrow whispered as he grabbed Winters hand and placed it on his chest, over the scar that rested there. "You feel that you entitled heiress? Thats from when my own sister drove a sword through me and kidnapped my niece, all because I was out drinking, not home where I could have done something. So what if you got a mean dad and a mom who likes to drink, you don't understand anything." 

Shoving her hand away from his chest Qrow immediately received a slap to his already hurt face, the smack not even fazing him as he simply looked at Winter. "That make you feel better Ice Queen?"

"No...." Winter simply responded as she soon stood up and made her way towards the door. "I know what its like to feel alone, to feel like you're the root of everyone's problems. You have suffered greatly but you have people making an effort to reach out such as Taiyang and Ironwood, do not take these people for granted Qrow Branwen. I looked up to people like you during my time at the Academy but if this is all you truly are, my faith was misplaced. Dont lose yourself in this ocean of self pity and sorrow, otherwise you might never find her." As the door opened Winter simply walked through closing it as Qrow sat there silent. 

\- 11 years missing-  
Qrow stood outside taking in the cold yet refreshing air that blew past him as he leaned over the balcony with a thin layer of snow coating the railing. Looking up at the sky the stars shined down on him similar to the christmas lights shining behind him. He wasn't used to this type of place and being forced to be here during this time of year certainly wasn't easy. "Are you out here feeling sorry for yourself?" A voice asked from behind and without even turning to look Qrow shrugged his shoulders.

"If you don't come inside you'll catch a cold." Winter said as she walked up to Qrow and leaned against the railing herself as snow continued to sprinkle down on them. Said balcony being attached to Schnee Manor which gave the two of them a pleasant view. "If you won't come inside to avoid getting sick you could at least come inside to spend time with your niece. She certainly seems to be getting along with my sister." 

"With how much fun she's having she probably won't even notice I'm gone till I really am." He whispered back with a soft hand suddenly reaching into his jacket, his hand quickly grabbing Winter's wrist with his eyes meeting hers. "If you're looking for a flask it's not there, I told you I wouldn't drink so that means I wouldn't." Releasing her wrist he soon turned back towards the Schnee Gardens simply taking in the silence.

"I'm sorry." Winter said before crossing her arms and stared out at the gardens with Qrow thinking back to when this was the only sight she could look at. "I understand that you aren't a very cheery person but why don't you at least try to pretend you're happy?" Asking her question all she received as a response was silence with Qrow leaning his head against the cold stone railing. "I never did thank you.... For the mission we were assigned to a few weeks ago to stop the Faunus trafficking. General Ironwood was furious but I believe that you made the right decision, one I wouldn't have been able to make so thank you Qrow."

In an attempt to cheer up the bad luck charm she watched as he stood back up with some snow drifting off his forehead and down towards the ground. "You're shit at cheering people up Schnee, that mission ended in the worst way possible." He said with Winter simply nodding as no one in her family was very good at lightening up the mood. She rubbed her arms feeling a harsh breeze but before she could head inside for a coat one was thrown over her. She looked down seeing Qrows jacket now covering her arms as he made his way inside. "Come on, you're gonna get sick if you stay out here."

With his back towards her Winter wasn't sure if he was smiling but regardless if he was or not, she succeeded in dragging him back inside which certainly put a smile on her face. 

\- 15 years missing-  
"Dammit!" A chair was thrown against the wall causing it to shatter as Qrow stood in a large bedroom with his hands bruised, multiple holes in the walls as he let out quick short pants. He rested his hands against a broken dresser and soon slammed his fist down into it with a door shutting behind him. 

"I see why you were so quiet on the walk back, you were saving all your anger for the hotel room." Winter mentioned with Qrow simply ignoring her as she walked closer. A large bag of ice being dropped onto his knuckles in an attempt to help. "I understand that you're angry but this doesn't help, all you're doing is hurting yourself." With a hand rubbing his back Qrow almost felt himself able to calm down only to remember what he saw a few hours earlier. 

"We were right there, right there." He said suddenly kicking the dresser putting another large hole into it. "Its not easy catching up to her, with her semblance she always knows where I am. If I'm miles away or outside the front door, we finally got the drop on her and almost caught her. If I hadn't spent so much time on the group outside..... Winter I saw her, I saw her for a split second." Qrow said with tears beginning to build in his eyes. "Long flowing blonde hair, she was the last to jump through the portal and then she was gone. Gone again, and I was just standing there." 

"I'm sorry...." That was all she could do right now, apologize for not being able to help enough but it didn't matter. The only person that Qrow Branwen was blaming or would ever blame was himself. Her arms wrapping around him and pulling into a comforting hug as the man who had to suffer with bad luck day after day finally reached one of the few breaking points he's ever had. 

\- 16 years missing-  
It was a quiet night, something that Qrow was used to given the amount of nights he simply stared off wondering about a certain girl that he let slip through his fingers. However things had seemed to slowly but surely change in his head, a blonde soon turning into a black/red haired girl with it once again changing into a woman he always thought he'd only have bad thoughts about. A pair of slender arms wrapping around his and staring off into the sky as well with his eyes soon shifting over to Winter. "I thought you were asleep."

"I was, then I felt my lucky bad luck charm leave the bed." Winter mentioned keeping her eyes on the sky with Qrow simply letting out a soft chuckle as their fingers soon intertwined with a new feeling on Winter's finger. "This is gonna take some time getting used to, I wonder what my parents will say."

"With my luck your dad will probably try to have me disappear just like any of his business partners that he isn't getting along with." Qrow mentioned as he looked down to see a ring on Winters finger, something he never thought he would buy, much less give to Winter Schnee of all people. "Ruby will probably be excited though, I should call her tomorrow morning. She's probably asleep right now."

"As should you be." Winter mentioned before finally bringing up what could ruin the perfect night. "You had another bad dream didn't you?" She asked with her future husband visibly tensing up at the question. "Why is it that only when things are going bad that you can sleep peacefully?" 

"You already know the answer to that Winter." With a heavy sigh he pulled his hand away from Winter and placed his hands behind his head. "I'm gonna be better for you, I promise." The two simply stared at each other with Qrow wrapping an arm around Winter and pulling her closer to his side. "Sixteen years, sixteen years missing and I still dream about that night. I still wonder about how I didn't just bleed out on the ground there, whether it was good or bad, but I know one thing and that's that you have helped me through the darkest times of my life. I just hope that I can do right by you, better than I did for her." 

"Then promise me." With a soft hand on his cheek he looked down to see Winter smiling at him. "Promise me that you will do better, that you will never go back to the dark horrid mess you were before. Promise me that one thing and I will make my own promise to you, that we will find your niece and take her back home." 

"I promise."


	7. Chapter 7

-age 12-  
It had been a week since Yang had found herself lost in the thick snow and almost killed by a Grimm. The event certainly affecting her as she was sure she would have died out there if it weren't for someone that just happened to be crossing through the area at the same time and was better equipped to survive in the wild. Stepping through the snow Yang this time had a thick boar fur covering her head and shoulders with her thin blanket wrapped around her body. Calm winds with the snow gently falling but the makeshift coat certainly did help in fighting against the cold. Two pairs of footsteps left through the snow as behind the young blonde followed the black haired girl that saved her. 

"Alright this is it." Yang said as up ahead rested large wooden walls with smoke rising out from inside signaling fire and warmth. Suddenly drawing her sword Yang reflected the sunlight off of her sword flashing a signal with the wooden doors slowly opening. "If you get too close without flashing any type of signal you're just asking us to kill you." Yang explained to her companion before the two walked forward.

With each step her companion noticed the small town that was established within the walls as the slowly entered with the doors being shut behind them. Once fully closed however many guns were aimed at the two of them, or more specifically at the stranger entering the camp. "She's with me!" Yang quickly yelled with her companion looking for any possible exit just in case. The guns not lowering however Yang groaned and reached for her blades only for the large main tent to open up revealing her mother.

"You certainly took your time in coming back, I didn't drop you off too far." Raven said walking towards her daughter, the guns finally being lowered as she raised her hand.

"The wind moved through faster than I anticipated pushing the snow right into where I was, but while out there I found someone." Yang explained stepping to the side with Raven raising an eyebrow at the short black haired girl standing beside her daughter. "She helped me out there and I know that she can be a huge help to us!"

"And because she helped you you thought it was okay to bring her directly to the tribe?" Raven asked with Yang opening her mouth to speak only to be silenced as Raven lifted a finger at her. Lowering her hand Raven turned towards the young girl who cautiously stepped back. "You believe it's okay to simply bring anyone here you believe is useful to us?"

"I brought her because I know she'll be useful to us, she's been living out in the wild for years and has survived. I understand it's another mouth to feed and more space taken up but I will do whatever it takes! Just let her stay!" Bowing down to not her mother but her tribe leader Yang pleaded with Raven being surprised at her own daughters actions. Her eyes drifting towards the girl who remained there silent.

"And what of you then? Will my daughter continue to speak on your behalf? What's your name?"

-Present Day-   
"Vernal." Yang's voice was low and filled with anger as she leaned back in her metallic chair with vernal sitting in front of her sipping on a cup of coffee. Vernal holding a soft glare towards her blonde tribe member with the cup soon being set down. "I seem to recall you not being able to do this job for her because you got caught on camera recently? So why are you here?" The blonde questioned only for Vernal to take another sip from her cup of coffee.

"Well...." Setting her cup down she crossed one leg over another as she turned towards Yang. "I am here not only to pick up the information that you should have prepared but also to make sure you're doing your job. Oh wait, you are doing your job because word is that some white fang member broke into Beacon to steal delicate information. What the hell happened?" Remaining silent Yang gripped the metal table between the two of them with Vernal simply nodding. "Nothing to say huh?"

"I bet you just think you would do so much better here don't you?" Yang quickly shot back with her eyes flashing red momentarily, a smirk coming to Vernals face as she took another sip of her coffee.

"That's cute, we both know you aren't gonna do anything. You start a fight and you end up ruining this whole operation so stay seated like a good girl." The metal of the table was soon bent as Yang growled angrily with the metal being squeezed under her grip. Knowing that Vernal was correct though she took a deep breath and leaned back crossing her arms. "Can I get the info now or do you wanna wait till the check comes?"

"How the hell were we ever friends?" Reaching under the table and grabbing her bag Yang pulled out the data stealing scroll and slid it across the table. 

"If I remember correctly you were a lonely little girl and I was looking for a way to get close to Raven. And look at where we are now, from my point of view I think everything worked out well." Yang couldn't argue with her as she remembered a time the two of them were actually close and kind to each other. The young blonde almost coming off as desperate for friendship of any kind. "One more thing, Raven's informant has given us some information on Torchwick. We know he's working for someone but we don't know who which is why tomorrow night at the docks when he shows up here Raven wants you to find out who he's working with."

"Fine, but tell her something for me since you're leaving. The heiress has an Atlas Specialist for a sister who's currently visiting with her fiance. It would be helpful if I could get any information on them." 

"Alright, I guess since you did get the data." Holding up the scroll Vernal soon slipped it into her pocket before standing up out of her chair. "Also thanks for taking me out to eat, so nice of you to treat me out." With a pat on the shoulder Vernal soon walked off with Yang watching as the waitress dropped the check on the table. With a soft groan Yang paid for the coffee and made her way back to Beacon where she walked through the halls towards her dorm room.

It was soon turning to evening and turning the doorknob to her room she walked in finding her three teammates. Blake sitting on her bed reading as usual but the other two were in dresses with Weiss carefully doing Ruby's makeup. "Will you hold still?"

"I told you I don't like this type of stuff, especially the dress." Ruby responded with her eyes shut as Yang leaned in to get a closer look at the eyeliner being used. Weiss looking towards her before continuing, the use of makeup being an odd concept for Yang. She always thought that there was no real point to make up besides reselling the expensive stuff she sometimes grabbed off of people during jobs. 

"You out training with Jaune again?" Blake questioned peaking out from behind her book as Yang looked at her with a soft glare. Not even sure if she had mentioned the training to any of them which certainly confused her.

"No." She simply responded leaping up and laying in bed to send a message to Jaune asking if he had told anyone of their training. "Went into town to eat with him earlier, after that we parted ways."

"And did anything interesting happen?" Ruby asked quickly standing up as she was always happy whenever Weiss finished putting makeup on her, not because she would look pretty but because she could finally move around. 

"No we ate and that was it, well that and then there was this Faunus who seemed to stow away on a ship coming in." At that news Blake's bow seemed to twitch. "Ran off the boat and into town with some guys chasing after him."

"Honestly I will never understand what goes through their mind when doing things like that." Weiss suddenly said drawing everyone's attention as she packed up her make up with Blake sitting up and shutting her book. "They used to be so rational and level headed but now they're like wild animals." 

A pair of feet suddenly hit the ground as Yang had leaped down from her bed with her arms crossing as she looked down at the heiress. "What's your deal with the Faunus?" Yang questioned surprising Blake who felt there was something off about Yang but maybe they could be one in the same, that long wild hair could certainly hide a feature or two. 

"My deal?" Weiss asked turning towards Yang and crossing her arms to mirror her. "As of recent years they are nothing more than a group of criminals who believe that they can go around doing whatever they wish. Be it something small like stowing away on a ship or something as large as stealing an entire train car of dust. They aren't all like that but it's hard to deny that the White Fang certainly reflect their beliefs." 

"Weiss come on, don't say stuff like that." Ruby said with a concerned look as she was used to the Schnee family being overly cautious when it came to Faunus. The heiress looking over at her friend and letting out a soft sigh before walking over to a mirror to adjust her hair. "I'm sorry about that, the White Fang and Faunus are a bit of a touchy subject for her. She doesn't hate them though I promise!" Ruby said in an attempt to ease tensions even though Yang seemed angry and Blake annoyed.

"So what's with the nice getups? You two going out and didn't bother to invite us?" Yang asked not really caring if she was invited but simply thinking Weiss didn't care enough about them to offer two invites.

"We were the ones invited, it's rare enough for our sister and uncle to be together and much less for all four of us to be together. Which is why they have invited us out to dinner." Weiss explained done with her touch ups and grabbing Ruby's hand, pulling her out of the room as Ruby simply waved at her other teammates. Once the door was shut Yang simply scoffed ready to head out herself.

"So you don't hate the White Fang?" Blake suddenly questioned as for once she didn't have her nose in a book, instead sitting up and looking at Yang. 

"The White Fang?" The blonde asked as she turned towards Blake and hesitated for a moment before simply shrugging. "What can I say? Peaceful protesters turned into a group of murderers and thieves." Hearing not only one of her teammates but two label them like sparked something in her, her hand gripping her bed sheets as she averted her eyes. "But who could blame them? Nobody listens unless action is really taken, I cant speak for them but if I was a Faunus and got disrespected like they have I would probably be locked up."

Hearing Yang speak like she actually understood put a small smile on Blake's face, having perhaps misjudged the blonde for something else. "Besides... Not like they brand their people so that's a plus." Yang suddenly added causing Blake to freeze, the mention of branding people reminding her of a certain someone she was attempting to escape. "What do you think?" Gazing out the window Yang left her back open with Blake even reaching towards her weapon. 

"I think there are good reasons they do what they do." Grabbing her weapon she silently stood up drawing her blade. Due to the complete silence from her movement Yang only managed to notice thanks to the reflection in the window. That stance, weapon in hand, in a quick turn Yang drew one of her blades countering Blake's blow which clearly seemed to be aimed at her neck. "He sent you didn't he? Where is he?" 

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yang asked surprised and angry at what Blake just attempted to do. Pushing back and even drawing her other blade, striking at Blake only for the sudden attacker to counter her second blade with the cleaver like sheath.

"Talking about being branded, I know exactly what you meant." Blake said with Yang's eyes suddenly turning red as she growled and with greater force began striking at Blake, pushing her back more and more. The mention of knowing about the brand triggered Yang who yelled and swung her swords with great force only to watch them slice through a shadow version of Blake. The real one suddenly on her right and needing to act quickly threw a blade as Blake swung her Katana just barely being blocked by Yang. 

The two girls stared at each other with heavy breathing as Yang laid on the ground holding her own blade against Blake's with the other now in the ceiling. Neither willing to stand down until soft fabric suddenly fell down between the two of them, Yang's sword not having dealt a deadly blow but it did cut through the ribbon in Blake's hair. Blake's eyes widening as Yang looked up to now see a pair of feline ears. "You're a Faunus?" 

"What?" The question caught Blake off guard as she thought Yang was working with Adam. Noticing the opening though Yang quickly kicked Blake back and stood up with her other blade flying into her hand. With both swords in hand she walked over and aimed one down at Blake. "You didn't know I was a Faunus?"

"No but that doesn't change the fact that you just tried to kill me." Yang stated with the tip of her sword coming closer to Blake's neck. 

"I wasn't trying to kill you... I was trying to.... I thought you were working for..." Not able to speak his name Blake paused only for the door to suddenly open. 

"Honestly Ruby I don't see how you forgot your- what's happening here?" Weiss asked in shock at her teammates seeming to have been fighting. Ruby looking over her shoulder as Yang looked back at them, not sure of how to explain this. "Are those... Cat ears?" Weiss asked as she stared at Blake who kicked away Yang's sword and pushed open the window quickly flipping out of the room. Using her semblance to bounce off towards the ground before running off as Yang groaned.

"Blake!" Ruby suddenly cried out as she rushed to the window and looked out to see her teammate having disappeared, something she was really good at. "What happened? We left for a few minutes!" Ruby yelled more confused than frustrated as Weiss walked forward as well. The two girls staring at Yang who simply glared at them with her grip on her swords not loosening. 

"I suggest the two of you back off, she attacked me." Yang defended and leaned out the window scanning the area only to find Blake successfully gone. "And at least now we all know what she was hiding." With the ribbon having been cut and resting on the ground Yang reached down picking it up. "So secretly a Faunus as well as a possible member of the White Fang." 

"What. Happened?" Ruby asked once again with Yang turning towards her and pocketing the ribbon. 

"We talked about the Faunus and White Fang, she eventually snuck up and tried to take me out. We fought for a bit before I got the upper hand, from what she said I think she thought I was a White Fang member." Even though it was the truth both Weiss and Ruby suddenly had their weapons in hand with their eyes on Yang. "If you two don't believe me then don't but if you're looking for a fight I will take both of you down as well."

There was a moment of hesitation as Yang tightened the grip on her swords only for Ruby to step forward setting Crescent Rose aside. "If that's what you say happened then I trust you, at least until we get Blake's side of the story. Weiss lets get changed so we can go find Blake, I'll message Uncle Qrow and tell him we can't make it." 

"Are you kidding me? What we should be doing now is alerting Winter and Qrow about Blake and have them help us track her down. If she really is involved with the White Fang then for all we know she's still working for them!" Pulling out her scroll she was ready to message her sister only for Yang to quickly reach out grabbing her wrist. 

"No!" Both girls stared at her confused only for Yang to quickly pull her hand back. "If she really is still working with the White Fang then we should handle this ourselves. Listen.... We're a team aren't we? Even if she did attack me we owe her the benefit of the doubt but if we get military officials involved then what? She'll got locked up." Both girls listened to Yang's words carefully unaware that she was just trying to keep any law enforcement out of this. If they found a spy within the school then it was possible they would begin looking over other students more thoroughly. 

"So what? We should just wait for her to come back and then ask her if she's a terrorist? And if she says yes then what?" Weiss asked crossing her arms.

"Then we'll handle it, if she is a member of the White Fang then we will do what's right. But if she isn't then we can't just go accusing her of something like that." With a heavy sigh Ruby grabbed Weiss' hand before turning towards Yang. "We're gonna go to dinner, if we don't go they'll wonder why. In the meantime you go out and look for Blake but please don't start a fight." Ruby pleaded as Yang simply nodded, watching the two girls leave as this felt like the first they were actually executing a team plan, even if it was to find one of their teammates. 

"Now... Where did you run off to?" Yang asked herself knowing a more stealth like approach to this would work better. Having a spare suit for something like this hidden away in the forest Yang made her way to leave the dorms only to open the door and be met with Jaune who was about to knock. "What?" She simply asked shutting the door behind her and walking ahead.

"Oh uh I was wondering if we could start our training a bit earlier today." Her fellow blonde suggested as she cursed at herself for making the training a nightly thing. "And what's with the rush? I haven't really seen you with this much pep in your step before." Jaune commented stopping in his tracks as Yang turned around and looked at him.

"Listen... I have some things to take care of and don't know when the next training session will be. We can continue the morning exercises but for now the nightly ones are canceled." She said in a stern tone, coming off even more standoffish than usual. "Take care of yourself Jaune."

With that Yang turned and walked off as she felt it was best to track down Blake and get some answers to this before any government officials got involved. As she walked away though Jaune stood there a bit surprised as he felt their nightly training was a good way to get to know Yang. Something about her made him want to get to know her and find out just why she was the way she was. "So... What am I gonna do about training?" The blonde asked himself unaware of a redhead peering from around the corner.

Blake didn't know where she was going just that she had to put some distance between her and Beacon. Eventually finding herself in the heart of Vale on a rooftop she sat down and watched as the sun began to set. "Why did she have to mention branding? What did she even mean by that?" Blake asked as Yang's words sparked something inside of her, almost like it was a trigger. "I can't believe I thought she was working for Adam...." Grabbing her head she no longer felt a ribbon graze the tip of her fingers, instead it was her natural feline ears that suddenly heard a crunch.

In an instant Blake was up with her weapon in hand as she looked over to see a blonde haired monkey tailed Faunus sitting on the edge of the roof eating an apple. "Hey there!" He said with his partially chewed apple still in his mouth. "Want one?" He asked holding out a second apple which only confused Blake.

"Who.... Are you?" 

"Just your friendly neighborhood Monkey Boy." He said with a cheeky grin before tossing the second apple, watching as she effortlessly caught it. "And I'm not one to butt into others people's buisness.... Often. But I kind of noticed you freaking out and wondered if you could use some help."

"I'm fine. Just... Thinking." Small talk was never one of Blake's strong suits and having to do it with a random stranger? 

"Fine then, go ahead and think away. I'll be sitting right here just in case you wanna chat. Names Sun by the way, not that it matters since we're not gonna talk, just think." He said with a smile before watching the sun set with his teeth sinking into the apple again. Blake stared at him in disbelief as he seemed to match Yang's description of the Faunus she encountered but why was he trying to help her? Watching him carefully she held her weapon ready for anything only to hear her stomach growl as it was getting around to dinner time. Things were silent for a moment till Sun heard a bite be taken out of an apple right behind which made him smile.

"You try to kill me and now I'm stuck out here actually looking for you..." Yang muttered to herself with her voice coming out muffled thanks to her mask. Her dark black White Fang masked outfit on once again with a pair of silver curved daggers strapped to her. If Blake really was involved in a criminal organization it was best Yang make sure Yang EmberCelica was connected to Blake as little as possible. All she had to do was find her partner, change, and confront her where there were as little cameras as possible. "At least the sun went down..." 

If Blake really was a White Fang member then maybe she could be useful but out of all the people she got partnered with it had to be the other possible spy. Leaping from roof to roof looking for her partner she looked over the edge at the crowd of people walking around on street level. Things were quickly becoming more and more complicated with this simple infiltration mission causing her to groan and soon leap out onto another rooftop.

R- Are you here yet? I'm going to need your help for tomorrow.

N- I'm here, on my way.

Neo walked through the streets of Vale with a smile as she held her parasol open over her head even though it was night. As she walked through the crowd though she noticed a figure leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Raising an eyebrow a smirk soon came to her face and began walking into an alley. "Where are you?" Yang asked as Vale was a large area and Blake could really be anywhere.

Turning around Yang was met with brown and pink eyes surprising her, Neo simply smiling as she looked the hooded and masked figure up and down. Given the White Fang mask she assumed Roman was sending someone to lead her to the hideout but this seemed off. With people always sneaking up on her Yang was beginning to become annoyed but due to her mission she remained silent and leaped over the edge into the alley before running away. Neo looking over the edge with a confused look before shaking her head. "Nothing can ever be simple can it?" 

Quickly turning a corner Yang stopped seeing the same girl now in front of her and turning around found the previous alley now being a brick wall. "What the-?" Turning around she looked at the girl who suddenly took a picture and quickly leaped forward in an attempt to grab the scroll. Neo effortlessly dodging the grabs and texting Roman.

N- This one of your people?" 

Before Roman could answer though she saw the hooded figure pull out her daggers forcing Neo to pay a bit more attention. Dodging the slashes but when they began getting a bit too close the daggers suddenly stabbed into her shoulder only for Neo to shatter like glass.... Like an illusion. As Yang watched the illusion shatter she turned around seeing the parasol with a blade now protruding out the tip. As Neo was ready to stab into the attacker she heard her voice. "Neo?"

When being recognized Neo froze and quickly stepped back with narrowed eyes, glaring at the hooded figure. As Yang turned around the brick wall was now gone and turning back to Neo she pulled down her hood and removed her mask revealing her golden hair and lilac eyes. "Those were illusions right? Illusions..... Neo? Is that you?" Yang asked shocked

As Neo stood there she slowly lowered her weapon as Yang suddenly ran towards her hugging her tightly with Neo standing there unable to move. Her arms slowly wrapping around Yang returning the hug. 

"I saw you go over.... I thought... I'm so sorry..." Yang said with tears building in her eyes as the two hugged.


	8. Chapter 8

-Age 14-   
An armored car drove through the back roads of the land with an elderly man sitting in the back of the car, a young red headed man sitting beside him with the driver in the front. The car suddenly coming to a stop with the red headed man leaning forward into the front seats. "I said no unplanned stops unless they're ran by me." He said angrily only for the driver to point forward, his eyes shifting over and widening when seeing what appeared to be a massacre in the road. Numerous bodies laying on the ground with a large pool of blood beneath them. "Stay in the car."

Stepping out the red headed man had a pair of wind and fire blades in hand with gun barrels located inside each. "I'm a huntsmen! If you can speak let yourself be known!" He called out although from the looks of it anyone who might have survived would now have bled out. "What the hell happened here?"

Stepping closer he looked down at the bodies only to notice that everything remained still. No drops of blood, no wind, not even any wild animals. His eyes quickly looking around him only for a shot to ring out grazing him in the cheek as he groaned and stumbled back. "I told you to go for the shoulder dammit."

"A dead huntsmen is a good huntsmen." Vernal spat back as she laid on the ground with a large rifle beside Yang who groaned and placed her Grimm styled mask against her face. Holding out his blades he let out a shot at the bodies watching as the entire scene shattered and disappeared like glass revealing an open road. 

"Go! Go!" He called out with the car quickly speeding off only for a blade to suddenly fly into a tire popping it. Rushing forward he watched the blade suddenly fly back into the woods and followed it only to come face to face with a girl dressed in red with a mask on. "I take it you're the one that I've heard so much about. Thought you fought with a single dust blade though, not dual swords."

"You have the wrong person." Yang responded rushing forward and slashing at him only to watch as the trained huntsmen easily outsped her and was ready to slash her side. A bullet flying in from afar forcing him to step back as Vernal simply grinned. The blonde going in for a strike only for her sword to be caught in his blades with a shock suddenly coursing through her.

She tried to power through it only for her gut to receive a harsh kick sending her back. Both her swords falling to the ground as she quickly stood with two shots flying into her sending her to the ground. "Don't make me take this any further than I have to. Stay down." He warned as Yang looked over at her two blades in the ground, a pair of blades and guns aiming down at her. 

The huntsmen hearing her swords be picked up only to turn around and see them still on the ground. The blades suddenly shattering the illusion as a black haired girl rushed forward with them. Forcing him off Yang with the girl reaching a hand down that Yang happily accepted standing back up. "Took you long enough Neo." Yang said with Neo tossing her one of her swords.

"Lets kick his ass." With a smirk the two girls rushed forward with a blade in hand for both of them. The two of them eventually walking out the woods and onto the main road with Yang sheathing both of her swords with Neo dragging the unconscious Hunstmen behind them. "Not that I mind sharing but you really should think of a weapon for yourself." 

With a raised brow Neo thought it over before shrugging as the two arrived back to the armored car to find Vernal tossing the elderly man onto the ground with the driver already knocked out. "You wanna do the honor or should I?" Vernal asked with Yang glaring at her through her mask. "Red eyes huh? Don't tell me you're mad."

"I said go for his shoulder, you went for a kill shot. Killing a licensed huntsmen is gonna do nothing but bring us unwanted attention." Yang said with Neo watching her two friends argue with Vernal simply pushing the elderly man forward. 

"Lets just get this over with, we can talk about this later. We have a job to do for now." Vernal reminded with Yang groaning before holding a blade out towards the man.

"You have some plans that we are interested in, I suggest you give them to us before we have to make you." Yang warned with the man quickly putting his hands up and nodding. Slowly standing to his feet and walking to the trunk of the car, opening it revealing a long metalic case. "Open it." With a blade against his back he entered the code with all three girls peering inside and smiling at what they saw. "Sorry about this." With a harsh blow to the head he passed out as Neo grabbed the case with the three walking off.

"Hold up!" Vernal crouched down next to the knocked out huntsmen and grinned happily grabbing his wind and fire blades. "I am so keeping these." 

"Lets just get going, I don't wanna be stuck camping out tonight." Yang said with Neo nodding in agreement as Vernal wrapped an arm around the short girl.

"You two need to loosen up, but yeah let's get going. Don't wanna be late for music night tomorrow." Vernal said with Yang removing her mask before letting out a sigh and smiling. "There's that goofy smile, she should smile more shouldn't she Neo?" With her own smile Neo nodded in agreement as the three walked away from the crime scene

-Present Day-   
Yang stared at her own reflection as it was currently the only thing she could do, sitting in a small room with a metal table and two chairs being all that was inside besides herself. Her fingers tapping against the table as she was sure someone was on the other said of that two way glass watching her. The pair of swords she always had currently gone leaving her to use her sheer strength if she wanted to escape. Given what had happened just a few hours ago she wasn't sure her semblance was an option at the moment. The door to her interrogation room opening with Ruby's uncle walking inside with her swords in hand. 

"These some nice blades you got on you, where'd you get them?" Qrow asked as he set the swords down on the table, taking a seat across from the young blonde. 

"From my old master, he passed away in a Grimm attack a few years ago." She quickly explained not bothering to reach for her weapons, wanting to get this done as quickly as possible without any problems. "I'm guessing you wanna ask me about the docks?"

"Well we did drag you out from under a literal ton of rubble so yeah, I kind of have a few questions for you. Because not only is a lot of expensive dust gone now but a group of students were involved with a criminal organization late at night and apparently one of them even attempted to help them escape" Qrow explained with Yang remaining silent as she knew exactly who he meant by that.

"You forgot about a monkey tailed boy and a redhead with lasers and swords." Yang said bringing up two other people that were there that night. Blake apparently making friends with another Faunus while the three of them met up with a weird girl in Vale who was surprisingly very powerful.

"We're working on finding the first one but as for this redhead you're talking about, dont know what you're talking about." Qrow responded which caused Yang to raise a brow in confusion. "From what your teammates said, Blake leaves because of an argument, even ditches class the following day. You three go out looking for her and just happen to find her at the docks just in time to help her take down a bunch of White Fang members. Multiple explosions happening with you apparently blocking my niece's shot towards this girl causing their aircraft engine to be hit instead and crash." Pulling out his scroll a hologram of a photo of Neo popped up with Yang looking at Qrow.

"I tripped." She knew he wouldn't buy that but what else could she say, she saw Ruby aiming directly at Neo and knew she couldn't let it happen. Unfortunately for her the bullet still fired sending the damaged aircraft down in a ball of fire leaving her to hope Neo was alright.

\- 1 night ago-  
The pair silent as they considered what to say or do as Yang took the first step in asking the right questions. "How are you alive? Where have you been? What are you doing here in Vale?" Neo slowly turned to her old best friend and tapped her on her nose. The small gesture breaking through Yang's tough persona and forcing a chuckle out of her. "Right back at ya."

"I missed you by the way, so did Vernal... I don't know if your... Well death was what shook her up so bad or if she was always like that but you dying did change her. We don't really talk that much..." Yang admitted with Neo letting out a silent sigh and hugging Yang once more. The two taking comfort in the others embrace before pulling apart. Neo putting her hands together to form the outline of a bird with Yang immediately knowing what she meant.

"Raven.... If you're wondering then she thinks your dead as well. She's also the reason why I'm dressed in this getup, I can't get too into the details but I sort of have to infiltrate a place." Given the White Fang mask that was sitting to the side Neo figured she knew what Yang meant which immediately drew some red flags. Holding out her own scroll and ignoring a message from Roman she held it out with Yang raising an eyebrow. "Hmm? Oh uh... Sure I guess." Pulling out her own scroll they tapped them together with their information quickly being swapped. 

"Neo I really am sorry about what happened back then as well, I should have seen him behind me and instead... Is your shoulder alright?" Reaching out towards Neo Yang's wrist was grabbed with Neo smiling but shaking her head. Pointing towards her shoulder before holding a thumbs up. "I'm glad."

Feeling her scroll suddenly buzz Yang looked down seeing a surprising message.

N- I missed you too, you're still my best friend which is why I'm telling you to stay away from the docks tomorrow night. I'm here for you if you need anything though. Btw bye.

It was at this moment that Yang seemed to freeze as not only was Neo possibly the target Raven was sending her to gain information on but this could very well lead to Neo getting killed. Turning towards Neo she found her now gone and understood why she said bye. Gazing down at her scroll Yang considering giving possible warning but knew it wouldn't change anything.

Y- Same, you ever need anything I'm there for you.

-Present Day-   
Qrow sat there silent as he watched Yang, memories of the night Raven drove her sword through his chest flashing in his head. She certainly had a personality similar to Raven's along with her weapons but after the fifth blonde with lilac eyes Qrow learned not to jump too quick to a conclusion. Even if a few days ago he had done that very thing. "Listen, you're not under arrest but I'm forced to tell you that you can't go messing with people like the White Fang. You remind me of someone I knew and I don't wanna see you end up like her."

"I can handle myself, now can I leave or do you wanna keep asking me questions about a fabricated night?" She questioned as Penny seemed to be completely wiped from his version of the story which only opened up more questions. 

"You can go, your teammates were already questioned and should be at Beacon so feel free to head there. But Yang.... I know that sometimes it feels you can't trust anyone but there's a reason you're on a team. You're a good kid which is why, if anything or anyone is keeping you from saying what you really want to, you can come to me." Qrow said as the girl looked at him with a look of distrust in her eyes. A look that he was all too used to seeing in the mirror after the accident.

"I say what I want and do what I want, no one is in charge of me." Gripping her swords she stepped out of the interrogation room and slammed the door walking off, leaving Qrow alone. Once outside she reached into her pocket sending a message. 

Y- Please tell me you're alive.

Qrow stepped out of the interrogation room and down the opposite direction that Yang went to another room. Entering to see Winter with Penny sitting down in a chair resembling a scolded child. 

"Did you get any of the answers you were looking for?" Winter questioned as Qrow walked forward simply shrugging, unsure of that himself.

"Kind of hard to get the truth out of someone when you have to cover up the reason an entire dock exploded." He said with both pairs of eyes fixed on Penny, her lasers having cut through a dust container setting off a chain of explosions. "What the hell are you even doing here in the first place Penny?"

Her eyes sheepishly looked up at the pair before returning back to the ground. "I was exploring the city when I came across them looking for their friend. Seeing that they were in need of my assistance I helped them which led to the dock fight. Criminals Roman Torchwick and Neo Politan were there so I made an attempt to apprehend them. Given the amount of White Fang members there however I misaligned my targeting and caused the explosion... Were there any casualties?"

"As far as we can tell no Penny but that is nothing short of a miracle, we felt the shockwave halfway across the city." The two of them having been having a date night of all things when the explosion occured. Having made their way to the docks where they found their niece and sister respectively. "Why didn't General Ironwood inform us that you would be here?"

"General Ironwood felt that it would be best for me to adapt a bit to regular people life before the upcoming Vytal Tournament. I suppose things like these aren't part of regular people life?" Penny asked with Qrow glancing at Winter.

"Given that it was Ruby and Weiss it kind of is, remember the ring incident?" Qrow reminded with Winter letting out a soft sigh at the reminder. "Who knew a cat could get behind the wheel of a car?" Letting out a soft chuckle Penny simply blinked as the two discussed what she was sure was one of those inside jokes she had heard alot about.

"Am I in trouble?" Penny asked as she wasn't sure what would happen to her.

"Well you technically weren't there tonight so no." Given how she was supposed to be a secret Qrow had to make sure any legal paperwork had any mention of her scrubbed. "But from the looks of it you're gonna have a few more restraints put on you." With a simple nod Penny accepted the terms given to her.

It was a quiet night out in Vale but that was to be expected when the news were still getting details about the sudden explosion that rocked the city. Beacon wasn't very far from where Yang was questioned but at the moment it felt like it was light years away. Pulling up her scroll again she began to type hoping for some kind of a response. 

Y- You there?  
Y- Come on Neo  
Y- You know you can trust me

After watching her aircraft go down and given the size of the explosion Yang was truly worried she had just messed up... Again. She found Neo after years and now she might have just gotten her killed all over again. It was possible that her scroll got lost or destroyed in the chaos but her mind couldn't help but jump to the worst possible conclusion. If Ruby had landed the shot Neo would have been shot out the aircraft and right now Yang was thinking that that might have been the best option. For now all she could do was pray Neo popped up or messaged her, until then, she was stuck where she was.

Opening the door to her dorm room she was soon met by her teammates who were sitting across from each other on their beds. Without needing to be asked Yang walked over and took a seat next to Blake as the four of them looked amongst each other. "So... We need to be a better team." Ruby simply stated as she looked at Yang and Blake. "Me and Weiss already work well together but we all need to work well together. Before we can start with any crazy combo moves though we need one thing, trust."

All eyes were soon on Blake who's cat ears folded in before standing back up. "I have alot to apologize for, starting with putting you all in danger tonight."

"It anyone put us in danger tonight it was Ruby, rushing us to the docks without a plan." Weiss said crossing her arms as she was still covered in dust from the dock that exploded earlier. Not having been allowed to shower till after this conversation finished. "I may not agree with everything the Faunus do but I can tell you're a good person. Even if I still don't know about that monkey friend of yours."

"That means she's sorry." Ruby whispered with a smile as a small smile crept onto Blake's face. 

"I'm still sorry, we are supposed to be a team and I haven't been truthful with any of you. So starting from now I want to make sure that there are no more secrets among us, especially after tonight." They were all covered in dust and dirt from the dock exploding and it was honestly a miracle that none of them were seriously injured. Blake's eyes shifted over to Yang who seemed to be in a completely different place at the moment. "Well Yang?"

"Well what?" Yang asked coming back to the conversation.

"After surviving a dock explosion and being interrogated we can't be hiding things from each other anymore. So what do you say Yang, no more secrets?" 

There was a moment of silence between all four of them as Yang wasn't sure what to say, still being on a mission that she knew she couldn't abandon. "I.... No more secrets, I promise." With a forced smile Yang nodded to their request with Ruby feeling that now was the real beginning of team RWBY.

As the girls began to share, across the city two people were busy looking over a case of dust which was all that remained from their heist tonight. Roman staring down at it with Neo patting herself down to get rid of any dust lingering on her clothes. Pulling out her scroll to find it completely broken and shattered. "First I have a cat eared girl pressing a blade against my neck, then a monkey boy, then little red, and then flying swords! And then lasers! And before we know it the entire dock is just gone! Gone Neo!" Roman yelled with Neo giving him a light smack on the head with the handle of her parasol. "Thank you, I needed that."

Neo nodded before hearing footsteps behind them and turned to see a woman in a red dress with dark hair approaching them. Her grip on her parasol tightening before watching Roman shake his head. "What you need is to explain to me what happened tonight because not only did you not deliver the dust as promised. You also blew all of it up, so tell me, why should I not end our partnership right now?" She asked holding her hand up with a ball of fire forming in it.

Even though Neo was prepared to get the two of them out of there she watched as Roman stepped forward, removing his hat and dusting it off before placing it back on his head. "There's a reason you hired me to begin with, because you know that I can get the job done. Tonight may have been a big oopsie daisy but thats just because of nuisances getting involved. Nuisances that attend a nearby school, we can get rid of them and pull off another heist all in no time at all. So you can either roast me here and now or let me earn my spot atop that Grimm infested mountain."

Cinder watched him closely before lowering her hand and thinking over his proposed plan. "And you intend to get rid of them how? Just walking in with your face plastered all over the news?"

"Well lucky for us, Neo here has quite the interesting ability." With Roman nodding towards Neo she rolled her eyes before her body suddenly changed into that of Cinder's perfectly matching her. 

"Interesting indeed, but I think I can put her abilities to better use. Beacon holds sensitive data that I would like to get my hands on, to do that however I will need to be inside. So be ready Neo, you'll soon be attending Beacon Academy." Cinder stated with Neo changing back to her normal self remaining still as she could most certainly infiltrate the school, if it weren't for a certain blonde that might blow her cover.

Said blonde currently sitting out on the courtyard of the school with dust still covering her body, her scroll in hand with a string of messages on it. Gazing down at it Yang began to wonder if there was even any point in leaving her dorm room given the nights events. First the possibility of Neo being a goner again and then making a promise that she very well couldn't keep. It felt like she was being squeezed tighter and tighter before finally she would pop. "You alright?"

A voice suddenly called out from behind her, Yang not even bothering to reach for her blades as she turned and saw Jaune. Standing there in his blue onesie which was covered by a pair of shoes and his hoodie over it. "I didn't expect you to message me so late but also why are you covered in dust?" He asked taking a seat next to Yang, reaching out and patting some dust off of her back.

"I had a building fall in on me." Yang simply stated before looking Jaune up and down, her eyes eventually landing on his. "You know you could buy some pajama pants right? This whole onesie isn't something you should really be wearing at your age." 

"I think it looks nice and it's comfy. I could get you a pair of you'd like" Jaune offered as he ran his hand along his legs feeling the soft fabric. "So did you message me just to talk about my pajamas?"

There was a moment of silence between the two as Yang leaned her head back and took a deep breath. "I don't know.... Its been a stressful night and I really just needed someone to talk to. As bad as it sounds I really just needed someone to talk to and right now I can't really talk with my team." Yang stated with her hand covering her eyes as she let out a soft chuckle. Shaking her head as she was starting to regret sending that message to Jaune.

"I don't think its bad at all." Feeling a hand on hers she uncovered her eyes and looked at Jaune who offered a soft smile. Having expected her to twist his arm but this was a situation he was used to, a blonde girl needing someone to talk to but it was usually one of his many sisters. "If you're having a hard time then there's no need to hide it because the longer you hide it the more its gonna hurt. And even if you don't wanna talk then we don't have to we can just sit here."

"I..." Having grown up in a survival of the fittest tribe this was something Yang had never really done, even being scolded when breaking down once. "Thank you... Back where I lived nobody ever really opened up. We were all taught that the pain we felt on the inside was just as valuable as the pain on the outside, it taught us to get stronger."

"That sounds like a tough place but then again you are a tough girl, but I can tell on the inside you're really nice. Even offering to train me when you didn't even know me, sitting here and talking to you is the least I can do for you." Squeezing her hand in a comforting manner Jaune smiled at Yang who softly squeezed his hand back. "So... You alright?" He said asking the same question eh asked when first arriving.

"I could use a shower." Yang responded as she looked down at her dust covered body with Jaune letting out a small laugh.

"Well if it counts for anything I think you look great, even after having a building fall on you." Hearing him still complimenting her even in her state it did put a smile on her face before reaching out and patting him on the cheek spreading some dust onto his face. 

She ran her thumb over his cheek and stared into his soft blue eyes which seemed bright tonight with moonlight reflecting off of them. With Neo possibly being a goner and having to make a promise she couldn't keep Yang felt more alone than ever. Even wondering if Jaune could keep her secret but she knew that if he knew anything about Raven that he might just end up dead, and it might even be by her own blade. Pulling her hand back she gazed up at the sky seeing the shattered moon that she was used to staring at. Her hand remaining on Jaune's gently holding his hand.

"The moon sure is bright tonight."

"Yeah, my mom used to tell me about why it was shattered actually." Yang stated as she was sure telling Jaune this wouldn't mess up the story she had been telling so far.

"Oh yeah? And why is that?" Jaune asked with his eyes gazing down at their hands for a moment before staring at Yang.

"Well... If I remember correctly it went that the moon was jealous of the sun, because it only came out at night when everyone was asleep so no one really saw it. So one day the moon asked the sun if it could come out during the day even just once so people could see it. The sun said no because if it did it would block out the sun but the moon didn't want to listen. So the next day it went out and blocked out the sun in an eclipse and everyone gazed up at the moon, but when the moon moved people were blinded by the sun. Because the moon broke the rules the sun had to punish it so it broke the moon apart so that it would never block out the sun ever again."

"So that's why the moon is shattered huh?" Jaune questioned as he gazed up at it and could understand why Yang's mother told her that story. It was one of those to teach your kids not to break the rules but as Yang told it she seemed like a completely different person. "I'm sure that the moon just wanted some friends. I mean look around, not a lot of people are out at night after all."

"Yeah I guess you're right about that, thank you Jaune. There was never anyone like you back where I used to live so I guess its a good thing I met you. Wanna walk me back to my dorm?" 

"Oh uh... Yeah sure." Jaune said with a large smile as he didn't bring any attention to their hands still connected, standing up and still holding hands with Yang as they walked. He wasn't sure what happened tonight but he knew that Yang needed someone to talk and he was happy that she trusted him enough to message him. As they finally arrived at her dorm Jaune finally pulled his hand away scratching the back of his head. "Guess this is it then huh?"

"Yeah but I'll see you tomorrow so until tomorrow then." Turning around Yang grabbed the doorknob and was ready to enter as Jaune entered the dorm room across the hall. Before he could open the door though he suddenly felt a kiss on the cheek causing his face to turn completely red as he soon heard Yang quickly run into her room. A very large smile coming to his face as he walked into his dorm overjoyed.

Yang standing with her back against the door with a dark blush on her face as well as she didn't like being so open and even thanking Jaune in that way but she could feel the smile on her face. Walking to the bathroom with the rest of her teammates already asleep. "Wonder if the moon ever felt its heart beat so fast." The happy blonde muttered to herself as she began to undress for her very needed shower, stripping down to nothing with the bathroom mirror reflecting her back. Moving her hair over her shoulder with the mirror reflecting a bird shaped brand mark on her back.


	9. Chapter 9

A cool wind blew through Yang's hair as she stood there dazed, taking a few steps forward to the window with light peering out through it. Inside was a large decorated dance hall with the students of Beacon dressed up just like her. A dark purple dress to bring out the color of her lilac eyes with matching shoes. Looking through the window she saw her teammates talking amongst each other and laughing as if nothing was wrong. Blake suddenly being tapped on the shoulder by Sun who soon pulled her away to the dance floor despite the red coloring her cheeks. 

As the two began to dance Yang noticed a familiar blonde head, Jaune standing on the dance floor or better yet dancing on it with Pyrrha. The music from inside able to faintly be heard from the outside of the building, it sounded nice to Yang but all she could really do was stand there and grit her teeth as tears began to stream down her face.

\- Earlier that day-  
"Whyyyyyy?" Ruby whined loudly from inside a changing room as Weiss simply groaned being forced to shove her against the wall. Blake standing right outside with a dress in hand while the pair of best friends continued to fight and rustle inside the changing room. "You know I don't like this type of stuff! And why are you in here with me anyway?"

"Because you'll just stall and we'll be here forever now stop struggling!" Weiss yelled with some of the store's customers glancing at the noise with Blake averting her eyes embarrassed. 

"Are they not done yet?" Nora asked as she walked over with a dress in hand as well with Blake shaking her head in response. "Come on ladies! We all have clothes to try on for the dance!" Nora yelled with Ruby suddenly being pushed out in a black dress with dark red coloring near the bottom. "Looking good Ruby!"

"Why can't I wear my hood...." Ruby simply muttered with Weiss stepping out right behind her still in her usual attire.

"Because your hood is not formal wear like the flyer requests us to wear. Its only one night Ruby and I'm sure that you will have fun, I'm going to be there with you after all." Weiss said patting her best friend on the back who simply continued to sulk. The Schnee heiress reaching into her bag and holding out a chocolate chip cookie that Ruby eagerly accepted with her mood quickly brightening up. "That never stops working." 

Nora smiled at the trick and held out a hand only for Weiss to shrug and show a now cookieless bag. "Aww.... Hey where's Yang? Shouldn't she also be picking up her dress for the dance? Or did she somehow manage to get it early" She asked noticing the missing fourth member of team RWBY. The girls currently picking up their dresses for the dance that night.

"She's training with Jaune." Pyrrha said as she walked over with a dress as Blake nodded in agreement watching Ruby dash into the changing and come out seconds later in her usual attire. "I can only wonder what type of training they're doing right now. She's always so rough with him during their training and it makes me worry she's just hurting him."

On one of the many roof areas of the school Yang stood there with Jaune who looked out over the edge noticing quite the long drop and quickly stepped back. "So I know you said that we are doing some special training today but... You're not going to push me off the school are you?" He questioned with Yang glancing over the edge before turning towards Jaune. 

"No but I will be sure to keep that in mind if we ever get to that point. Besides with your amount of aura as long as it's not depleted you'll be fine." She explained with Jaune nodding along before suddenly being pulled to the ground. Now sitting he looked across from himself as Yang crossed her legs and placed her hands on her lap. "Now copy." Yang simply stated as her trainee mimicked her soon sitting just like her. 

"I haven't really had a chance to do this since we first arrived but seeing as how you have a large amount of aura it's about time we do this together." Reaching out Yang grabbed Jaunes hands and nodded her head. "Close your eyes and calm your mind." Immediately his eyes were shut but his mind was anything but calm mainly due to how soft Yang's hands were. 

"Okay... Now what? And what exactly are we doing?" He asked cluelessly

"We are mediating, I started doing it when I was little and it's helped me a lot. It of course offers the benefits of easing your mind and body but it also helps in controlling your aura. Aura is a manifestation of the soul so the more in tune with your soul you are the better control you'll have of your aura." Yang explained and shut her own eyes as she steadied her breathing. The world around her becoming quiet with every little sound and sensation becoming much more clear. 

"Yang?" Hearing Jaune speak up Yang rubbed his hands with her thumbs before opening her eyes to see his shining blue orbs.

"Yes Jaune?" She asked pulling her hands back.

"What exactly does it mean to have better control of your aura?"

"Better control of your aura means you can increase it to absorb a stronger blow or know when its getting low. Let's say you rush towards someone with a sword, normally if your aura was high enough it wouldn't cut you but if it's too low you could end up losing an arm. So if you don't want to lose an arm be quiet and focus."

Shutting her eyes Jaune followed but he wasn't sure on what exactly to do, she said clear his mind but with it being so quiet his mind began to wander everywhere. "So... You going to the dance tonight?"

"You're not going to be quiet are you?" She asked opening her eyes as she decided to be nice and give Jaune some easier training but maybe that wasn't smart. "If it'll get things back on track then yeah I'm going, I'm actually... Excited." Yang admitted as she laid back staring up at the clouds. "Back where I grew up we didn't have a lot in terms of entertainment. So sometimes we would all come together and throw a celebration, there'd be music, food, shows and dancing as well. Me and my friends always had tons of fun."

Reminiscing about her past was never something Yang was too fond of yet always found herself doing but thinking back to the celebrations did make her smile. "You're smiling." Jaune pointed out which cause Yang to sit up and look away as she didn't even realize she was. "I know you go for this tough loner look a lot but if you ask me you have a pretty smile." 

Being complimented by Jaune caused Yang to blush and quickly leap to her feet, turning from her fellow blonde to avoid his gaze. "Are you going?"

"Me? Oh well yeah, Ren helped me pick out a suit and with the rest of my team going I really have to. I haven't really ever been to a dance but do know how to dance really well if I do say so myself." Jaune boldly stated in a rare moment of confidence which caused Yang to glance at him surprised. "What?" 

"Oh nothing it's just that I sometimes forget you can actually be confident." She said as she walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You say you can dance huh? Never pictured you as the type to be good on his feet given our training sessions." In a quick movement Yang went to sweep his feet with hers only for Jaune to jump up dodging the attack. While in the air however felt a hand on his chest pushing him down to the ground. "Better reaction time but you need to think quicker." 

"I know..." Jaune muttered as he stared up at Yang who grabbed him by his collar and effortlessly lifted him back to his feet. "And I may not look it but I am amazing on my feet when someone isn't trying a sneak attack. You can thank all my sisters for that, whenever they had a dance they were going to I was of course forced to practice with them." 

"Riiiight seven sisters, well who knows maybe tonight I will get to see just how good you really are." Reaching out Yang patted him on the head before walking past him and placing her hand on the hilts of her swords. "So, you wanna learn to be quiet and continue on with the meditation training or should we have some real fun?" 

Jaune wasn't sure what had happened but Yang seemed in a better mood as of late, he wanted to believe it was because of that talk they had but that could just be a small factor in her mood change. Seeing her ready to do some combat training though Jaune scratched the back of his head opening his mouth to speak yet nothing came out. Instead he reached towards his side drawing his sword which caused Yang to quickly draw both of hers. "Any special rules this time?"

"Yeah, try to beat me." With a sarcastic remark out of the way the two blondes rushed towards each other only for the two to soon be walking through the halls of the school with Jaune groaning. "Should have gone with the meditation training." Yang remarked as Jaune was getting better but a few weeks of training couldn't compare to a lifetime. 

"You and Pyrrha always talk about how I have tons of aura but it never seems to come in handy, I still end up hurting all over while you can take an exploding dock to the face and walk it off." 

"That's because you do have a large amount of aura but you don't use, since it was only unlocked recently that makes sense but you really have to try and catch up to everyone else. If I wanted to I'm pretty sure I could knock you into a coma." Yang bragged and possibly even threatened as she wasn't one for hand to hand fighting but could still throw a mean punch. "I'll make sure we have some time to meditate together."

"Thanks, but do you have any other tips for me that I can try while you're busy." Jaune asked as the pair reached their dorm rooms, Yang leaning against the door to her room as she thought over the question.

"For aura it's not as simple as doing some push ups to build muscle.... I guess just force it out. Just feel your aura and go for it, try and push out as much aura as you can. That's all you can really do sometimes, just go for it." Yang stated as with Jaunes amount of aura she knew that if he at least had decent control over it he could be quite the dangerous opponent. 

"Alright then... I guess I can do that." Jaune replied with a smile as he let Yang's words echo in his mind, just go for it. As the two stood there in the empty hallway Jaune soon took a step closer clearing his throat. "Listen Yang I was wondering-"

"There you are!" Weiss called out as she soon walked down the hall with the rest of the girls causing Jaune to quickly step back while Yang turned to face them. "I have been messaging you for some time now asking if you'd like anything from the store like a sash or a bow to go with your dress for the dance. You do have a dress correct?"

"Yeah I got a dress and I keep my scroll on silent during training. I'll see you later Jaune right now I think Weiss wants to yell at me some more." Opening the door and walking inside the rest of her teammates followed with Ruby and Blake waving at Jaune while Weiss yelled at Yang. Jaune was left standing there silent as he had slowly worked up the courage to finally ask Yang to the dance and in seconds she was gone.

"Come on Jaune! You can tell me how great I look in my dress!" Nora yelled as she dragged Jaune into the dorm room with Pyrrha right behind her. As Nora changed into her dress Jaune sat there on his bed silently waiting with a contemplating look on his face. Ren beside him wondering what was wrong with Pyrrha across from them being the first to speak up.

"Is everything alright Jaune?" She asked in her usual soft tone.

"Hmm? Oh yeah I'm fine I'm just thinking about something.... Maybe you could help me with it." He stated scooting closer to Pyrrha. "Let's say... There's this person who I've been spending time with lately and I want to ask her a question but I'm worried she'll say no. But I'm also really hopeful that she'll say yes." 

"Do you plan on asking someone to the dance Jaune?" Ren simply asked being as straightforward as ever with Jaune blushing.

"Ren! I mean... Yes but I'm not gonna tell you who it is. Its just that the dance is tonight so should I even ask her to go with me at this point or just ask her to dance at the actual dance?" Jaune questioned with both Ren and Pyrrha glancing at each other. Pyrrha hoping he was talking about her while Ren wondered if it was Pyrrha or Yang.

"Ask her at the dance!" Nora called from the bathroom soon stepping out in her dress. Walking over to Jaune and grinning at him. "If you ask her to the dance then she might get embarrassed and not even go. But if you ask her to dance at the dance then she'll probably say yes because everyone else is dancing! It's foolproof! Now how do I look?"

"You look very nice Nora, now why don't you go change before you get a stain on it?" Ren suggested looking out for his best friend as usual who nodded and skipped back to the bathroom. It may be just a few hours before the dance but Ren didn't want to have to clean and dry a dress in that time.

"She does have a good point... I guess I'll wait till I see her at the dance. Which reminds me you got a dress for the dance as well right Pyrrha? Are you gonna try it on as well?" Jaune asked with Pyrrha shaking her head.

"I already got the girls opinions back at the store, if you want to see it then you'll have to find me at the dance." Pyrrha said with a soft giggle as she stood up and walked away with an eager smile on her face. Across the hall the rest of the girls sat around with Yang walking over to the closet and pulling out a purple dress that got darker the lower it went with a flower like pattern on the bottom. 

"I was expecting you to pull out something a bit more... Tough." Blake admitted with the two other girls nodding in agreement.

"I would go in regular clothes but the flyer said formal so I might as well show you all how it's done." Yang quickly replied with Weiss standing to her feet getting a closer look at the dress. "Easy there princess, no way this thing is gonna fit you." The blonde pointed out taking a quick glance down at Weiss' smaller bust.

"I already have a dress you dolt, I'm simply admiring the fine work that went into the dress. It must have been quite expensive given how it looks and feels." Weiss mentioned running her hand along the fabric with Yang quickly pulling it back and placing it back into the closet.

"Well thanks for the compliment, I'll be sure to let myself know how much you like my work." Yang proudly stated before turning to see surprised expressions across all her teammates faces.

"You know how to sow?" Weiss simply asked.

"Where I grew up you either grabbed what was available or you got to work making your own darn clothes. I got so good at it you can't even tell where my vest got cut up over the years. Even I kind of forgot..." Looking over her red vest Yang searched for any visible sowing marks.

"Where did you grow up?" Ruby suddenly asked with Yang gazing up at her remaining silent. The silence seeming to draw both Weiss' and Blake's stare towards her. "You talk about where you lived but you never talk about the place. From everything you've said I'm sure you got plenty of stories to share about it." 

Ruby knew she and her team had to get to know each other better if they were gonna trust each other on missions but Yang was always the most difficult to get anything out of. Maybe now that she had been acting a bit nicer she would actually open up. "Please?" The red hooded girl asked hoping to persuade her teammate. 

Yang continued to remain silent before letting out a soft sigh and gazing at her teammates. "I lived... I lived.... I lived out in the middle of nowhere. After my parents were killed by Grimm I moved in with a retired huntsman who trained me, we kept to ourselves." There was a moment she considered speaking truthfully but at that moment all that she could think of was how she was branded for betraying her tribe. Speaking of it to them would only end badly for them all.

"Hmm... Was expecting something a bit more exciting." Weiss remarked before walking over to her bed with Yang simply nodding. 

"I think I'm gonna go for a run real quick, get in a nice workout before the dance. I'll see you guys there." Yang quickly said and was out of the door even quicker. The girls left there confused as Yang rushed down the hall and straight out of the dorm building. 

"You think she was lying about where she lived?" Blake asked turning towards Ruby who slumped in her seat.

"Yeah... I wanna believe her but it's clear she's hiding something from us, how are we supposed to be a good team if we're always hiding secrets?" Ruby asked aloud with Blake seeming to look away feeling partially guilty. "Ah I didn't mean it like that! You had a good reason to hide it! And I'm sure Yang does too but I want us to get to a point where we all trust each other enough to open up with each other."

There was an awkward silence that filled the room as Ruby began to question her leadership skills only to feel a light smack to her head. Her attacker being Weiss who quickly turned and began laying out some jewelry. "Oww! What was that for!?"

"To snap you out of it, one thing goes wrong and you're questioning every choice you've ever made. You will get her to open up one way or another, you did so with me after all." Weiss stated remembering how annoyed she was by Ruby during their first meeting. Making sure to keep her back to Ruby though the heiress smiled remembering how much fun they ended up having later on. 

"Thanks Weiss..." Ruby whispered before smacking Weiss on the head as well causing her to quickly turn and growl at her leader. "And now we're even!" 

"You dolt...." Weiss growled angrily as Blake simply chuckled at the best friends interaction, wondering if she could be like that with her partner at some point.

"You try to open up... You try to be nice and kind and get along with everyone but what's the point if you have to lie every other sentence?" Yang asked herself as she stared down at her reflection in the water fountain. The dance was quickly approaching and now she wasn't even sure if she should go. Being forced to lie after promising no more lies really did make her feel bad. Reaching down she tapped the water watching her reflection ripple with a black feather even falling into the water. She reached in picking it up but once the water became clear she saw a man behind her.

"You alright there?" He asked with Yang quickly stepping back and drawing a sword aiming it at him. Said man being Qrow who raised his hands and let out a soft chuckle. "Easy there, didn't mean to scare ya."

"I wasn't scared." Yang immediately replied and held her sword for a few moments before finally sheathing it. "You're Ruby's uncle right? The one married to Weiss' sister?"

"Not quite yet, still got to find a cake that we can agree on." Qrow said with a soft laugh before slipping his hands into his pockets. "So what's got you out here moping around and talking to yourself? Shouldn't you be getting ready for that dance?"

"You're right I should, I'll get going now." Turning around Yang began to walk away as she was a bandit and speaking to someone who was engaged to a military specialist could add up to trouble. 

"Ain't easy is it?" Qrow called out watching Yang stop in her tracks and remain still. He wasn't sure if this was his long lost niece but he did know she was a kid having some sort of trouble at the moment. "You got someone to talk to?" Upon receiving no answer Qrow sighed and stepped closer. "Its real easy to hide things but the more you hide the easier it is for all it to come crashing down on you. I'm not asking you to tell every little secret you got but if you want someone to talk to I got some free time."

Yang knew she should have just walked away but instead she found herself sitting on a bench next to the old man who remained silent. She tried to figure out what he was looking for, what he wanted from her but he just sat there tapping his foot. When seeing him reach into his jacket though Yang watched carefully only to see him holding out an opened pack of gum. "Want one?" 

Without a word she took a stick and placed it in her mouth before beginning to chew it, him doing the same. "Why are we placed on teams?"

"Hmm? Well the school will tell you that it's so you have someone watching you back out there but really it's for you to learn." He stated with Yang raising an eyebrow. "If you're gonna be a huntress you have to understand people. Be it your capable teammate who can watch your back or the crying child clinging to you while you fight off Grimm. If you get fed up and yell at him to shut up that's just gonna attract more Grimm, if you can at least calm him down... Well then you might just get out of there alive."

"Why not just knock the kid out?" Yang asked with Qrow simply staring at her.

"And that's why they put you on a team." He simply replied with Yang scoffing and rolling her eyes. "Anything else?"

This was weird to say the least, having a heart to heart discussion with this man that she didn't know anything about. Yet as they talked Yang felt he knew something about how she was feeling. "What if you wanna tell your team something but you know that if you do things will go bad." 

"Then you fix them it's as simple as that. People get hurt by the people around them every day be it from simply hearing something they didn't want to hear to finding out you lost a big check you were supposed to cash." Qrow said letting some of his own experiences slip out in the process. "Point is if you wanna tell them then go right ahead, just be ready to make it up to them if its that bad."

"Make it up to them...?" Revealing something like that to her team could not only ruin them as a team but put each of them in danger as well. "I don't know if I will be able to but... I'll think about it." That was all Yang could really do right as she soon stood up and glanced at the time on her scroll. "I didn't like you back in that interrogation room but you're alright, just don't start thinking I like you."

"You can hate me all you want just make sure you don't get my niece into too much trouble, I see you how I see Weiss, like a big sister to her." He said as he stared into those lilac eyes he only got to see seventeen years ago.

"Big sister? Yeah right... I'd be a horrible big sister." With a soft laugh Yang walked away leaving Qrow to wonder if she really was that same baby he held in his arms and if he could take her back home at some point.

"I'm back!" Yang yelled as he opened the door to the dorm only to see it empty, walking over to the bunk bed she's picked up a note. "Decided to head out early, see you at the dance. -RWB" Setting the note back down Yang walked over to the closet and pulled out her dress quickly changing into it and heading down to the dance. It had turned dark in the time it took her to the change but the lights shining out from inside the dance really shined in the darkness. 

Walking over Yang couldn't help but peek in through the window seeing her teammates talking with the music able to faintly be heard from where she was. Looking around she spotted Jaune in a suit which put a smile on her face as she looked herself over hoping he liked her dress. When seeing Pyrrha walk over to him however Yang was ready to walk in only to see a black feather drop down in front of her at her feet. Leaning down she picked it up before hearing a familiar voice. "You look nice in that dress Yang."

Hearing that voice Yang immediately froze as she instinctively reached for her swords only to find them gone, having left them with her regular clothes in the room. Standing there completely still Yang slowly turned to see her mother standing there, reaching up and removing her mask. "You said.... You wouldn't be able to get onto Beacon..."

"I couldn't but that information I had you steal for me held data that was very beneficial." Raven stated holding up a scroll and nodding towards disabled security cameras. "Now then... You seem excited to go to this dance Yang. I don't see how this is beneficial to your mission however."

"I... I have to blend in so-"

"So what? You spend days training that boy? Spend days sowing that dress in secret just for him? Even willing to tell your new friends about where you grew up?" Raven asked revealing she had been watching her daughter for some time now. Yang left there silent and more importantly scared, having been away from Raven for so long made her forget just how intimidating her mother really was.

As she stepped closer Raven circled Yang and ran her hand down her daughters back even tracing the brand mark that was hidden under the dress and hair. Yang immediately tensing up and clenching her fists as she felt completely helpless. "You haven't forgotten why you were sent here correct?"

"No... I haven't..." Yang quietly responded with Raven removing her hand from her back.

"You're not like them Yang, you're nothing like those other students inside dancing and having fun. You can try and be but every day you're living a lie and they can feel it, that you're deceiving them. That you're a liar, a manipulator, a thief, a killer."

"I didn't-!" 

"Didn't what? Mean to? You drove your sword through him and cut him in half with no hesitation Yang, you will never get away from that. You will never be one of them and the sooner you realize that the sooner you can move forward. So forget about them, they are not your friends, play your part and you will be rewarded. Stray too far from your path, and I will be forced to get rid of distractions." Raven boldly stated as Yang stood there silent knowing full well what her mother could do to each of them.

"Do you understand Yang?"

"Yes... I'm sorry." With a simple nod Raven stepped back and the sound of wings flapping could be heard as Yang slowly stepped over to the window. Seeing those that she had finally began to let in with tears beginning to stream down her face.


	10. Chapter 10

Fire crackled and burned under a tea kettle with a pair of red eyes simply watching it, Raven having taken this opportunity to ease and relax herself. Her Grimm styled mask and weapon sitting off the side as the tea kettle began to whistle signaling it was done. Pulling it away from the fire the tribe leader poured herself a cup of tea before hearing someone step into her tent. "You should know better than to enter so freely." She warned

"I know but I thought you might like to know that the hit was a success, no trouble at all." Vernal stated as she stood there in the doorway knowing better than to be too carefree around Raven. A moment of silence between the two as Raven soon poured a second cup of tea.

"Sit." She ordered with Vernal obeying, sitting across from Raven on the ground as the cup of tea was set on the table between them. "I am going to ask you a question Vernal and I expect you to answer truthfully. Why do you do as I say?"

"Why? Well its because you're the tribe leader meaning you're the one in charge so-"

"I said to answer truthfully." Raven simply stated narrowing her red eyes with Vernal going silent only to nod seconds later.

"Because I know if I don't you'll either stick that branding iron on me or kill me like you've done to plenty before. You took me in when I was a child and I'm eternally grateful but you don't hold any sympathy for me so I simply make sure I do what's needed for both of us to get by without any trouble." Reaching down Vernal picked up her cup taking a sip from it before setting it back down. "Is that the answer you were looking for?"

"Why do you think so many have betrayed me over the years? Not only those seeking a reward for my capture but even those who were close to me." 

"I take it you mean people like Neo and your daughter?" Vernal asked receiving a simple nod from her leader. "They forgot where their priorities stood, believe me they feared you but they both believed that the weak could survive in this world. And now ones dead and ones branded, a fitting punishment for both of them."

Her words spoke greatly to Raven as it reinforced what she was already thinking but it showed Raven that maybe Vernal should have been the one under her wing the entire time. "You were friends with both of them, Neo and Yang. Yet when they faced their punishments you didn't attempt anything at all, unlike my daughter with Neo."

"I was friends with them but because I wanted to get close to you, you showed me what it meant to be strong. I want to be as ruthless as you are, be able to do what you do, even if that means having to tear people apart." Raven watched Vernal closely as she answered and took a sip of her own tea before nodding towards the tent entrance.

"You can go now." Even with her tea unfinished Vernal nodded and left Raven alone who pulled out her scroll looking at Beacon through security camera footage. Switching to files and pulling up one she knew Ozpin had been hiding. "I will have to make a choice soon." Raven said to herself as the file showed blueprints for a deep underground chamber holding two pods at the end of it.

At Beacon Academy it had been a full day since the dance and everyone was in high spirits after getting to have a fun night together. One thing everyone noticed however was the absence of a particular blonde at the dance who seemed to be avoiding everyone now. Yang sitting on top of the school where she attempted to teach Jaune meditation, sitting on the floor with her eyes closed as she breathed carefully. 

"I will talk with her, I will make sure nothing happens to you." Meditation used to calm her mind yet all Yang could feel was fear, anger, sadness as her worst memories came up. Holding out her hand only for a gunshot to ring out and moments later Yang's hands were covered in blood along with her sword. Her breathing beginning to pick up as she remembered how her hands shook and her heart raced.

"A liar, a manipulator, a killer..." Her mother's words echoed as her hair began to glow and her fists tightened remembering how her back burned being branded in front of those she had seen as family, all for trying to do the right thing. 

"There you are." A voice called out with a hand now on her shoulder, Yang's eyes opening wide to reveal her red eyes and instinctively drew her sword slashing it against her attacker. Not realizing it was Jaune till after she had attacked with him luckily bringing up his sword to block the attack just in time. Said attack still being strong enough to send him flying into the wall behind them. His aura shattering as he groaned struggling to get up with Yang standing to her feet once again with lilac eyes. "That was harder than usual...." 

"Crap I'm sorry I..." Yang rushed over to help him up only to see a security camera facing them from a nearby pillar, had it always been facing this roof? Quickly Yang pulled herself away from Jaune rushing inside and heading down the stairs she had climbed up. 

"Hey wait!" Jaune called out chasing after her.

Both blondes rushing down the stairs as Yang considered simply falling down the gap between the stairs going to the ground for a quicker escape. Unfortunately for her Jaune was quick to leap down the stairs before stumbling and crashing into her. Both blondes stumbling down a few stairs before landing on a flat portion of the stairs.

Yang growling but looking up she found herself on her back with Jaune on top of her. His hands against the floor under them supporting his weight as he stared down into Yang's eyes. Both silent as they stared at each other as Yang could feel her heart beating and even leaned in before suddenly shoving Jaune off of her. "Get off of me..." She muttered standing up and crossing her arms.

"I was gonna get up anyway..." Jaune whined as he forced himself to his feet but did lean against the wall. "What's up with you lately?" He asked holding his side as Yang simply looked at him with stern eyes stepping forward in an attempt to walk away only for Jaune to step in front of her. 

"We both know how this ends." She warned 

"I know and I know it's gonna hurt but you never showed up to the dance, didn't show up for our training session and Ruby said you've been avoiding your team all day. Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened now move!" Yang yelled with her eyes flashing red causing Jaune to instinctively step back but immediately after stood his ground. 

"Not until you tell me what's wrong." He proudly stated with the two blondes staring at each other only for Jaune to soon be thrown into a wall with Yang easily walking past him. Jaune gasping for air as he rolled onto his back and groaned. "You can talk to me!" He called out which seemed to do something as he heard Yang's footsteps cease before coming closer. 

"Fine let's talk." Yang said as he lifted him up off the ground and once again slammed Jaune into the wall now holding him up against it. "You're weak, you're annoying and I have been wasting weeks trying to teach you something you'll never be good at! I realized that yesterday and now I want you to realize something, leave me alone or I'm gonna break a lot more than just your aura!" Dropping him Yang walked away as Jaune could feel his bruised back. 

"Just leave me alone dammit..." Yang quietly muttered as she walked down the stairs and out of the building remembering the threat her mother made. 

While one was struggling with last night's events another was overjoyed at them, Pyrrha humming happily as she wrote a report for class with Nora watching her while Ren sat on the ground meditating. "She sure is happy isn't she?" Nora asked as she found herself bored and decided to watch her teammate.

"Jaune did dance with her last night after all, there's not much more that has to be said." Ren replied as he was quiet but was always paying attention to the people around him. One thing that he was quick to pick up on was this romantic novel like love triangle Jaune had with two girls. 

"Is that true Pyrrha? Are you really happy because Jaune danced with you?" Nora called out from across the room even though it wasn't necessary to yell. The question seeming to catch Pyrrha a bit off guard as she turned and let out a soft chuckle. 

"Well.... I am happy that we all got to have such a nice time at the dance last night." She bashfully replied as Nora grinned and quickly ran over to Pyrrha.

"Oh come on Pyrrha you can be honest! You barely let him get off the dance floor last night and even when he was off it you were glued to him like.... Glue! You know it wouldn't surprise me if you two started dating~" Nora cooed with Pyrrha's face beginning to match her hair as she chuckled and fanned herself unable to answer. 

"I'm back!" Jaune suddenly called out as he entered the room with Nora grinning.

"Perfect timing! Jaune would you- whoa! Yang must have been extra rough with you today huh? Wait... Doesn't your training usually last longer than this?" Nora questioned with Jaune nodding as he took a seat on his bed removing his armor and laying back.

"I don't know... I went to ask her why she didn't show up to the dance but she was acting weird. Team RWBY even said she's been avoiding them as well and when I tried to talk to her about it she wasn't very nice about it." He explained with Nora walking over and raising an eyebrow.

"Everyone seemed to be at the dance last night except her, what could have set her off?" She asked with Ren walking over and staring down at Jaune.

"It could be the fact that you were dancing with Pyrrha, maybe she showed up but seeing that scared her off." Ren explained as Jaune slowly sat up with a confused look on his face.

"Why would that set her off? If she wanted to dance with me she could have just asked." The blonde explained with Nora whispering into Ren's ear only for him to shake his head.

"Not exactly Nora, Jaune haven't you noticed that Yang is the slightest bit nicer to you? Even calling you out in the middle of the night for a talk when she was feeling bad? I'm not certain of how much but it does seem that Yang has some amount of affection towards you." He explained leaving the rest of his teammates stunned with Pyrrha soon looking away in fear he would reveal her affection for Jaune as well.

"Wait wait wait! So you're telling me that Yang likes me? Like.... Like likes me?" Jaune asked scratching his head but groaned from the simple arm movement. Seeing Ren and Nora nod in unison the blonde laid back shaking his head. "Even if that was true she doesn't even seem to regular like me now. I think I'm just going to give her some time then go see her again." 

"Perhaps I should go talk to her, if us dancing really caused this then maybe if we talk this out things will be better. I'm going to go look for her." Leaving the room quickly Pyrrha avoided any objections from her teammates as she was glad she had danced with Jaune but didn't mean to hurt Yang. Even if she was cold and harsh at times it wasn't possible that she was always like that.

Having retreated to the nearby woods Yang stood there staring at a tree before reaching over to her swords and unsheathed both of them. Staring at them she remained still before walking forward and setting them against the tree. Walking away she turned back and reached out a hand concentrating on her swords only for nothing to happen. "Come on..." She muttered attempting to pull them towards her only to let out a sigh of frustration. 

Walking back towards them she effortlessly picked them up and held one up high, tossing it out into the woods. With one still in hand she waited a few seconds before holding out her open hand expecting the sword to come flying back to her as it always have. But when nothing happened Yang stared in confusion in the direction she threw her sword and focused holding her hand out. "Come on dammit..." She muttered and even though Yang remained focus she watched the sword come flying towards her.

Somehow unprepared Yang was forced to hold up her other sword to block the incoming attack, both swords colliding and flying out of her hand into the ground. Rubbing her hand she soon stepped closer and looked down at her swords. Cracks on both weapons where they had struck each other except it wasn't an ordinary crack. Reaching out Yang dragged her finger along the blue glowing crack watching it slowly return to normal. "Been a while since its done that..."

With the swords slowly returning to their natural look Yang picked them up and couldn't help but stare at them sheathing them back at her waist. Taking in her surroundings Yang shut her eyes with her arms crossed over her chest, the thought of her mother quickly coming to her mind. "What am I going to do?" She quietly asked herself before falling back against a tree with a groan. "What does she want from me?" 

Leaning her head back Yang closed her eyes taking in the actual silence surrounding her, a soft yawn escaping her lips as she soon realized her recent meeting with Raven had been keeping her up. Having just planned on taking a small break Yang allowed her mind to drift off allowing herself to rest. Soft breaths leaving her lips only for a bag to suddenly be placed over her head waking her. "What!? Hey! Get off!" 

Being dragged along the ground Yang kicked and struggled feeling two people pulling her with her struggling doing almost nothing. "Let me go!" She yelled only to feel her arms spread and chained restraining her. Pulling against her restraints Yang groaned finding herself unable to break out only to feel the sack pulled off her head with her eyes widening in shock. The people of her tribe standing before her with it now being night, torches lighting the area as Yang was now in her tribe. 

Looking all over Yang felt a sword slice through her clothes leaving her back open and she knew what was coming. A burning piece of iron soon pressing against her back slowly breaking her aura only for her eyes to widen with the burning sensation against her back. "No! Ahh! Stop! Please!" Yang screamed as her eyes finally opened, still sitting in the woods near then school with her back no longer burning. 

A cold sweat over her body as she took deep erratic breaths needing a moment to calm herself before gripping her head, tears building in her eyes as she shook her head. "Are you okay?" Quickly turning to her side Yang watched Ruby hesitantly step forward and quickly looked away. "Everyone is worried about you, did something happen?"

"I'm fine... Just leave me alone." Yang said keeping her back to Ruby as she wiped the tears from her eyes. The dream being one that she hadn't had in a while and it was still as terrifying as she remembered. 

"Yang we're not just teammates, we're friends aren't we? You can talk to me about anything I mean we all have nightmares after all." Ruby said stepping closer watching as said friend seemed to finish wiping away her tears. Turning towards Ruby with an angry scowl that Ruby was slowly getting used to seeing. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong with me, so why don't you run off now? Because no matter what you think we are not friends, all we are are some people that got stuck on a team together." Yang responded watching as her hooded teammate walked over taking a seat against the tree across from the blonde. "I'm leaving." Standing up Yang made sure she had everything on her before walking away.

"I've had nightmares too, nightmares about someone coming into my room and taking me away from my parents. I had that dream a lot when I was little since I had a sister that was taken before I was born. My parents told me about how she was taken so I would know about her but it just caused me to wake up scared." Ruby admitted with a soft chuckle hoping to receive a response but heard nothing.

"She was taken? So you never got to know her then?" Yang asked leaning against the other side of the tree. 

"Nope, my parents told me how they didn't have a lot of time with her before she was taken. Every year on the day she was taken we light a candle and set it on the window sill, you know, as a way for her to find her way home."

"And do you actually think she's going to come back? I mean how long has it been since she was taken." Yang questioned as Ruby thought back to everything they had told her.

"Um... I'm not really sure, all I know is that she was taken as a baby. They don't really like to talk about it but they always say we should never forget her. Have you ever lost someone before?" Ruby questioned hoping that Yang hadn't just walked off. 

"Yeah..." Yang admitted as the thought of Raven quickly returned to her mind. "Uh... She was my best friend, one day she took the blame for a mistake I made and things just got out of hand. I thought I had found her a while back but it wasn't her...." With no response from Neo and the size of the explosion at the port a few weeks ago Yang was losing faith she had survived. 

"I'm sorry to hear that, when did it happen? Did you hear me?" Standing up Ruby walked around the tree now finding no one there and let out a soft sigh. "Maybe the talk helped her, I should get back before Weiss gets worried." Walking away Ruby could only hope that Yang was alright, that whatever had happened the night of the dance hadn't hurt her too much. 

As Ruby walked back towards the school the leaves rustled in the tree they were sitting under with Yang soon dropping out of it and landing on her feet. Never did she think she would end up having a talk like that with anyone since she was working against everyone at Beacon. But not for herself, all for someone that she hadn't trusted for some time. "Okay... Time for answers."

Walking back towards the school Yang made sure the sun was still shining as she walked through the crowd out front and walked over to the event hall. The same place that the dance was held at but she didn't walk inside and instead looked up at one of the numerous security cameras around the school. Unsheathing just an inch of her sword and tilting it to reflect the sun off of it using the same signal they used at the tribe. "What are you doing?"

Looking over her shoulder Yang saw Pyrrha standing there and couldn't help but scowl a bit as she finished the signal before sliding the sword down. "Just having a bit of trouble putting one of my swords away, might have to take a look at it later." Yang mentioned having experience lying to practically everyone she had met since arriving at Beacon. "What do you want?"

Pyrrha never enjoyed hate and tried to be friendly with everyone around her and the only reason she showed some aggressiveness towards Yang was because of how she treated Jaune. But for some reason Jaune accepted everything and always seemed excited to train with her. "I just wanted to come and talk with you, Jaune told me about the conversation you two had earlier. You were also much brighter and happier before the dance but after it you became colder than you had ever been. Me and my team were discussing it and is it because of me and Jaune?"

Yang's eyes seemed to focus on Pyrrha with more intensity as she finished speaking with one hand being placed on the hilt of her sword. "You and Jaune?" She asked stepping forward seeing no fear in Pyrrha's eyes. "Why would I be mad? Is there something between you and Jaune?" 

"If there was would you be angry? I was dancing with Jaune at the dance and after giving it some thought is that why you're so angry? It's clear that we both hold some affection towards him and I want to make it clear here and now that I will respect any outcome involving him. I just want to make sure that you are okay." Even attempting to be kind Pyrrha saw a cold stare coming from the blonde in front of her but stood her ground.

"Always so nice aren't you? I'm surprised I didn't get a 'hello again' when you walked up. Or you know what why not one of those cute little sorry's? Because you are ever the perfect girl aren't you?" Yang asked continuing to antagonize the redhead who now stepped forward. 

"I have never once claimed to be perfect, we all have flaws and right now plenty of yours are showing. I came here to talk not to start a fight."

"Then I suggest you run off." Yang responded as the two began an intense stare off with Pyrrha being the first one to step back.

"No matter what happens you are my friend Yang, you may not see me as one but regardless of what happens I will be your friend." Pyrrha stated with Yang glaring at her simply listening to the redhead speak. "While I have you here I also want to make it clear that I like Jaune, and even if you don't admit it I can tell you do too. I'm okay with whatever happens so I ask that you do the same, people are worried for you."

With a soft sigh Yang nodded before smiling. "Fine, I will accept whatever happens between the three of us but if you think that's why I'm upset you don't know anything. It's just a tiny crush, nothing too big, so why don't you run off and tell everyone I'm dealing with personal issues and get them off my back?" Yang requested with Pyrrha sighing and nodding.

"Fine, but Yang we are all here for you. Whatever you're going through you can rely on us, we will help you no matter what." Pyrrha responded before turning and walking away leaving Yang by herself. "Just what are you hiding?" Pyrrha asked herself as it was clear Yang was hiding something from all of them.

"Good luck with that dumb goofball Nikos." Leaning against one of the pillars of the building Yang waited patiently as minutes soon turned into hours but she knew that if she waited she would get what she was looking for. Her stomach even growling from the lack of food but Yang refused to move. The sun even beginning to set due to how long she had been waiting and glanced over at the security camera up in a corner. 

"So no change when they go offline huh?" Yang asked looking over at a raven in a tree and stared at it crossing her arms. It flying away before suddenly coming around the tree now as her mother. "So did you just notice me waiting or did you make me wait on purpose?"

"This is certainly a change from our last conversation." Raven said as she stepped forward looking around having already checked the area but checked again just to be sure. "The last time we talked you knew better than to be so forward. So why don't you tell me why you called me here?" Raven asked with her red eyes staring into Yang's lilac ones that showed hesitation through the courage in them.

"I deserve the truth, I am here working for you and doing what you asked of me so I deserve to know what you want. You're always hiding something from me and I know it's the same here." Yang stated stepping forward with Raven standing her ground just like Pyrrha had earlier except this time Yang stepped back. "If I knew what you wanted then maybe I could help...."

"You clearly don't understand what you're doing here Yang, you're repaying a debt to your tribe. I had hoped to send you here with an understanding yet here you are, branded." Being reminded of it Yang gripped the hilt on her sword only for both her swords to suddenly fly out of their scabbards and float beside Raven. The pair of swords floating into her hands with Raven looking them over before stabbing them into the ground. "I sensed it today, you know that's only for emergencies."

"It was an accident, they accidentally collided." Given her answer Raven nodded and stepped closer looking down at her daughter. "You know I wouldn't just use that power for nothing."

"I don't know what you would do, I have had to watch you carefully to ensure you're not wasting your time here. You are on a mission here after all." 

"A mission that I dont know, just tell me what you want. Do you actually think I would do something behind your back?" Yang asked watching one of her swords suddenly fly up crashing into the building right beside her head. "You won't hurt me... You need me."

"And that is why I made it clear I would go after those friends of yours even if you are trying to push them all away now. But we both know that if one of them is found torn apart you will be responsible." Raven threatened as Yang grit her teeth and tightened her fist.

"Then I'll tell them, I'll tell everyone about who you are and what you've done." Hearing her daughter threaten her right back Raven stepped back before picking up Yang's other sword in the ground and held it out towards her daughter. 

"What are you planning? Going off into those woods with no cameras anywhere in sight, calling for me to come here, making requests like these?" Raven questioned inching the blade closer to Yang's neck before setting it down into the ground. "Ozpin has a secret hidden under the school and I intend to take it for myself."

Finally hearing what she wanted Yang let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and stared at her mother. "The problem is that its one of Ozpin's secrets meaning it has quite the security behind it. If I want it then I am going to need to carefully plan this and find someone to take it since I cant."

"What? You mean... You're lying, there's no way that he would just have it and you would never send me here to get it." Grabbing her sword out of the ground and the wall Yang sheathed both of them doubting her mother's plans.

"Its true." Pulling out her own scroll Raven showed her blueprints and medical records along with wiring schematics. "She suffered an injury and I am going to need someone to take the power for themselves when the opportunity arises. You betrayed your tribe but do what I ask of you and I will make sure you have that power." Hearing her offer Yang remained silent and looked at Raven unsure of it. "No one will die, a victory without bloodshed. Is that what you want?" 

Holding her hand out Yang stared down at her mother's hand as this would either doom or save her. "No bloodshed... And I have to do whatever you say? No matter what?"

"Do as I say and you will be allowed back in the tribe, as well as gain the power of the maiden. Now do we have a deal?" Raven asked having set the necessary pieces to make sure she won in the end. Her eyes on Yang's hand waiting for it to shake her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You always expect to only take a few days to write a chapter and yet it turns into months. Hopefully someone is still reading this and I thank you. Hope you enjoyed


	11. Chapter 11

-Age 16-  
"Don't forget what your objective is Yang, this is up to you and I expect you to finish this without any difficulties." Raven's words echoed in Yang's mind as she sat quietly in the back of a moving truck. The only sound being that of the engine as it moved through the snowy tops of the mountain. "Come back with what I need Yang." Leaning her head back Yang let out a soft sigh only for her arm to be nudged.

"You okay there?" Looking over she found Vernal staring at her and nodded.

"Yeah just the first time that mom has let me lead something this size, so lets not mess this up." Gripping the hilts on her swords Yang felt the truck come to a stop. "You ready Neo?" She asked looking over at the muted girl who nodded, the trio standing up and staring at the doors to the truck. 

As the doors were unlocked light came shining in with Atlas soldiers staring at the cargo shipment not seeing anything out of the ordinary. "Alright then! Let's get this stuff unloaded!" He yelled turning away as the illusion faded away. The trio moving up along the top of the truck taking in the sight of the massive garage they were in. 

Dropping down behind one of the numerous trucks Yang slipped on her Grimm styled mask and looked for exits. "Alright we have the layout of the area, you two head to the generators and knock out the power. I'll go find the target, do not draw any attention towards yourselves."

With a nod from her team Neo and Vernal soon ran off with Yang watching as Neo made good use of her semblance with the two slipping right through the garage. Knowing their time here was limited Yang moved quickly and carefully through the trucks not wanting to be caught. Waiting for her team Yang grinned under her mask as the power went out. Quickly making her way out of the garage and through the facility. 

Running through the hallways of the facility Yang ducked around corners and hid from oncoming soldiers. It wasn't till faint blue lights came on lighting up sections of the building that Yang quickly ran for where she was heading. Slipping into a room silently and looking around found a wall of locked and highly secure doors. Multiple desks and computers in the room but no one which worried Yang. Walking over to the doors there were number pads on each telling Yang this was the right room at least.

"No I'm sorry Rebecca I think the power went out, we're running on backup at the moment. So what were you saying they did today?" A woman with black hair wearing a lab coat asked as she walked into the room. While speaking on her scroll she walked over to a desk picking up some papers only to feel a blade against her neck. 

"Say goodbye and hang up, do anything else and this happens." Yang whispered pressing the blade into the woman's neck.

"Rebecca... I'm sorry I have to go." Ending the call the woman remained still as Yang snatched the scroll away and tossed it aside. "W-what do you want?"

"The Atlas military has been developing a weapon that can increase the power of dust. This is the room where you keep your secrets and you're Brianna Nelly, the one who made it. So where is it?" Yang asked knowing that they were on a limited timer. "Try anything and I will slice you open."

"That machine isn't a weapon, it was designed to help in powering cities and vehicles. It wasn't meant for-"

"Where is it?" Yang asked with a soft growl as Brianna whimpered and nodded towards one of the doors in the room. "Move."

Gently pushing Brianna forward Yang made sure to keep her sword where it was and watched as the scientist put in the passcode with shaky fingers. Moving forward Yang saw mini vaults built into the room's walls and watched as Brianna led her to one where she began inserting another code. The tiny metallic door unlocking with a small cylindrical machine sitting inside. "Grab it."

Reaching for the machine Yang had her eyes on the machine glad this was almost over only for Brianna to slam her hand on a button below the vault in the wall. Cold steam suddenly shooting out the ceiling surprising Yang with Brianna making a run for the door and managing to lock the door behind her. "Hey!" Running up and punching the door Yang wasn't sure what she was getting hit with but it was making it hard to breath. 

Running to her scroll Brianna was quick to call. "Hello? Yes someone broke in they're in room 568 please hurry!" 

Managing to hear that through the door Yang knew she had to hurry as the lights suddenly returned to full power with the cold steam coming in harder. Slashing at the door with her swords Yang could feel the lack of oxygen with each weaker swing and pulled off her mask hoping to breath better. It certainly helped but with the oxygen in the room quickly disappearing Yang slammed her swords together three times and with red eyes slashed at the door.

It easily being blown off as Yang stumbled out of the room gasping for air and coughing violently as her swords glowed with a blue aura surrounding them. Finally able to breath Yang thanked the gods she didn't die but when looking up saw Brianna staring at her, her mask being off. Realizing what that meant Yang grit her teeth standing to her feet and gripping her glowing swords. "You couldn't just give the damn thing to me..."

"Please, please don't.." Stumbling backwards Brianna watched as Yang gripped her blades with red eyes.

"I'm sorry." Walking forward Yang held up her blade ready to slash as Brianna reached over grabbing something off her desk.

"Please! I have children!" Holding up a picture of her with a young boy and girl Yang froze in place and looked at the picture. "They already lost their father I'm all they have! Please don't do this!"

Hearing her cry out in tears for her kids Yang found herself unable to move, her eyes returning to their lilac color and her swords returning to normal. "I-"

With the door suddenly being rammed open Atlas soldiers ran in aiming their rifles at Yang causing her red eyes to return. "Drop your weapons!" They screamed with Yang quick to rush forward and easily slash through them as red lights began to blare through the facility. With the guards down Yang looked over at Brianna before finally running out of the room.

With the job blown Yang easily stormed through any guard in her way and when watching turrets come out of the wall was surprised to see them blasted. Vernal and Neo coming around the corner with Vernal having shot out the turrets. "You better have that damn weapon." Vernal said angrily but stared in confusion seeing tears down Yang's uncovered face.

Neo was quick to run up and quickly do multiple signs with her hands with Yang realizing what she was saying and wiped the tears off her face. "I'm fine Neo... And the weapon, dammit I didn't get it." 

Neo looked on worried as Vernal groaned and staring down the hallway watched multiple soldiers coming towards them. "Dammit come on!" She yelled running off with Neo and Yang right behind her as they began opening fire on them. Holding up her dual circular blades Vernal blasted a hole right into the wall glad that it opened up an exit to the outside. "Jump!"

Leaping out the hole Vernal watched as she began to fall down a mountain side with Neo and Yang tumbling down right behind her. Everything having happened so quick Yang didn't even realize she had gotten knocked out till she woke up to Neo shaking her in a cave. "Ugh... Just like when we first met huh?" Yang asked playfully seeing a small fire and was surprised to feel Neo hug her. "Hehe... I'm alright Neo." She whispered hugging her back.

"We're screwed, we are freaking screwed Yang." Vernal said looking out at the snow and woods surrounding them. "Raven trusted us and here we are, hidden in a cave from Atlas soldiers, no dust machine, and you clearly lost your mask. So tell me Yang, what the hell are we gonna do?"

Neo looked over at Vernal silently shushing her with a finger over her lips as Yang stood up. "Everything will be fine... I'll think of something." At least she hoped so as Yang knew she had messed up.

-Present Day-   
With school as boring as she remembered Ruby laid on her bed with a flashlight on reading through multiple text books and letting out a tired yawn. "Just a little more..." She whispered ready to just shut her eyes and drift away till she heard the door to their room open and shut. Quickly looking over Ruby spotted Yang who walked in and immediately noticed her team leader staring at her. "So are you gonna say something?" Yang asked as the two silently stared at each other.

"Huh?" Ruby asked blinking her eyes.

"Aren't you going to ask where I've been or why I ran off during our little talk? You're always kind of nosy that way but I guess we shouldn't talk unless we want to wake these two." Motioning towards both Weiss and Blake now asleep Ruby nodded but quietly leaped down from her bunk and grabbed Yang's hand pulling her outside into the hallway. "What?"

"Well I just... You're not glaring at me or growling or muttering something under your breath." Ruby pointed out as she rubbed her eyes having been ready to fall asleep. 

"If you want I can pick you up with one arm and threaten you or we can go inside and go to bed. I have something important I have to do tomorrow." With a soft yawn Yang walked back into their room leaving Ruby to wonder and even hope that the talk the two of them shared was responsible in brightening her mood. Following her teammate into the room Ruby didn't even bother with the rest of the chapter and collapsed against her bed falling asleep. 

Yang looked over at her team leader and pulled out her scroll to send a quick message before falling asleep. It wasn't till early that following morning that a fellow blonde would sit up in his bed stretching his arms up above his head as one good thing about no early morning workouts was that he could sleep in. Walking to the bathroom Jaune immediately brushed his teeth and rinsed out his mouth before finally grabbing his clothes for the day. "Hmm?"

Looking over at his scroll a small light was blinking and opening up his scroll noticed a message sent late last night. With a soft sigh he took a quick morning shower and changed into his school uniform since he had no intention of training or working out. Walking up along the stairs to the roof he opened the door to find Yang staring out at the view. "Meet me at the usual spot in the morning?"

"Probably should have put a time since I've been waiting for a while now." Turning around Yang walked over to Jaune in her usual red and black attire with her arms behind her back. The action causing Jaune to tense up since he felt she might have something behind there. "You know you don't have to worry so much, I can tell by the look on your face you're scared I'm about to beat you up."

"Well you did punch me right into a wall yesterday and right now I don't have my armor on. Speaking of which you know you're gonna have to wear your school uniform at some point right?" He asked with Yang rolling her and raising her fist only to place her hand on his shoulder. 

"Hey." 

With nothing but a hand on his shoulder and a single word Jaune was still left confused as to why Yang called him up here. Especially after what happened between them yesterday. "Okay so this is not something I am used to saying but you should be the first I say it to." With a moment of hesitation Yang took a deep breath before nodding to herself. "Sorry."

Hearing the tough girl who had practically been beating him up since the moment they met apologize to him made Jaune think Yang just wanted him to lower his guard for a kill shot but no such shot came. "So you're apologizing?" He questioned watching her nod as he remained very confused. "Um... Is that why you called me up here?" 

"Oh no I called you up here because I wanted to ask you out." 

"Oh yeah that makes a lot of sen-" Not even able to finish his sentence Jaune stared at the girl in front of him who was genuinely stunning. She always put up a tough bravado but past all that she was genuinely kind and caring, otherwise she probably would have dropped him off the building at some point. Quickly shaking his head though Jaune brushed her hand off his shoulder. "Okay very funny, now what did you actually call up here f-"

Jaune had been cut off plenty of times in his life and it was never a good feeling but he was willing to make an exception this time. Because not only was it Yang that cut him off she did it by pressing her lips against his. Right as Jaune shut his eyes and prepared to kiss her back though Yang pulled back and looked at him. "Okay... Not as bad as I thought it'd be."

Snapping out of his trance Jaune blushed and cleared his throat as he soon looked around the roof with Yang soon looking around as well as if searching for something. "Okay so where are the hidden cameras? This is like some big prank right?"

"You know I can leave and pretend this never happened because guess what, no one would ever believe you." Whispering the last part with a grin Jaune quickly nodded as he knew all too well that it was easy to tell people you had kissed a girl, it was hard proving it. "So are you gonna say yes now or do I have to punch you right into that wall again?"

"I have a few questions." Jaune quickly said with Yang's face immediately turning into a bit of a scowl before nodding. "So... First off are you okay? Yesterday you said some really mean stuff and now you're saying you want to date me, I want to make sure you're okay before anything else. And why are you asking me out? Also are there rules to us going out?" 

Closing her eyes for a few seconds Yang took some time to think over her answers and stepped closer to Jaune with her hands on his shoulders. "You sure I can't just kiss you again and skip the questions?" Receiving a quick shake of the head from the boy in front of her Yang spoke up. "I... I was acting that way because I saw you at the dance with Pyrrha and I really wanted to dance with you so now I'm stepping forward and asking you out because I like you. There? Is that you wanted to hear?" She asked quickly as Jaune was still left surprised and confused. "So what do you say?"

"What about the last question?" 

With an angry groan Yang grabbed him by his jacket pulling him closer. "No! There aren't any special rules now do you want to date me or not because I'm starting to change my mind!" She growled with Jaune quickly nodding.

"I do! I do!" He practically yelled as the two blondes looked at each other with Yang letting go of his jacket and smoothing it out. Awkward silence covering the roof as the pair was now unsure of what to say or do. "Sorry it's just that... I was worried about you and I've never really had a girl like you ask me out. Or any really, never really a big ladies man." Embarrassed a bit Jaune rubbed the back of his neck before gazing down at Yang. "So... What now... Babe?" 

"Babe huh?" Yang asked with a soft chuckle before reaching down and grabbing his hand giving it a gentle squeeze. "Never really been called that before and from what you said I doubt you've called many girls that before. But I like the sound of it, so tell you what why don't we go get something to eat and then head to class?" 

Having practically no experience dating Jaune nodded as he didn't want to risk messing this up so soon and holding her hand began to descend the stairs. 

A sleepy hand reached over patting down an empty spot and with an immediate groan not finding his partner laying beside him. Forcing his upper half upwards Qrow looked over at the sound of typing and found Winter typing away quickly on her keyboard with a mug of coffee beside her. "How long have you been up?" He asked tossing the covers aside and walked over to Winter in only boxer shorts and took a quick sip of her coffee.

"Not too long, decided to do some investigation into the students files in case we missed something the first time round." Leaning against the desk Qrow continued to take sips from her coffee only for Winter to reach over and pull her mug away. A soft glare in her eyes as she took a sip before setting it down. "We are on a mission after all, have you even began to consider who stole Ozpins information?"

"I've given it some thought but we got plenty of students and Oz asked us to not let it out that we're on the hunt. So it's not like we can start pulling suspects to the side and begin interrogating them." Qrow pointed out before stepping closer and placing his hands on Winter's shoulders from behind. "You need to relax, wouldn't want all that stress to pop up in the eventual wedding photos."

"Don't remind me..." Certain of plenty of work for her once she returned to Atlas along with her current duties Winter didn't want to be reminded of what was left to plan for their eventual wedding. "Perhaps we should just go with your idea as idiotic as it sounds to get married while sky diving." Winter pointed out with Qrow chuckling and leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"One of the reasons I like you is because you hate ideas like that so don't ruin this okay?" Qrow said jokingly with Winter reaching up and grabbing him by his hair. 

"You better pray you don't ruin this, I am the best someone like you is gonna get." She said softly and looked at Qrow with a smirk only for a message to come in on the computer. 

"You know that you're not gonna read that message for at least an hour right?" Qrow asked suddenly scooping Winter up in his arms with a grin as he carried her back to bed.

"Oh please you'll be lucky to reach ten minutes." Winter quickly shot back as she was laid down on her back with Qrow quickly climbing over her. "But I suppose that practice does make perfect doesn't it?" She whispered pulling him down for a feverish kiss while the message blinked in the corner of her screen.

"So..... You're dating?" That was all that the students seemed able to talk about as Team RWBY and JNPR sat at their respective table with the seating arrangement off due to Jaune sitting next to Yang. Their fingers interlocked under the table as they both ate single handed. "This isn't just some elaborate prank?" Weiss questioned with Yang shaking her head.

"Nope. I gave it some thought and after careful consideration I decided that I wanted to be with Jaune. I've spent the most time with him since arriving here and he's got some kind of boyish charm to him." Yang pointed out with Jaune finding it hard to hide his large smile with everyone simply finding it odd or sudden, especially a redhead down the table. Taking a sip of her drink as Yang looked over and couldn't help but hide her smirk.

Angry that Yang was most likely just dating Jaune to spite her she began feeling for metal on Yang and for the first time noticed something very odd. Of all the metalic objects on Yang at the moment the weapons she used didn't react. The long and very sharp swords not even able to be moved a bit no matter how hard she tried to do so without being noticed.

"Well I suppose congratulations are in order?" Ren asked with Yang rolling her eyes.

"Look I know that this is all sudden and out of nowhere but... After giving it some thought yesterday I decided that I'm gonna try to be happy. And the first way to do that was to admit my feelings for Jaune. Because no matter how much I tell myself I train him to help him get better, I train him because I like spending time with him." Leaning her head on his shoulder Yang smiled happily with Jaune smiling down at her.

"Ms EmberCelica how many times do I have to remind you that you are required to wear your school uniform?" Turning around Yang found Glynda Goodwitch standing over her with that signature cold stare she loved to give the students. "If you attend class like that you will be receiving a severe punishment." With that Glynda walked over as Yang pulled herself away from Jaune.

"I should probably go change, last thing I need is to be stuck doing some ten page paper on what Grimm sound like." Leaning down Yang actually planted a kiss on Jaune's cheek before walking away. The table of students sitting there confused before quickly whispering to each other.

"So can we all agree that this isn't normal? Something is wrong with her."

"Hey."

"Agreed, for all we know she's toying with Jaune for some reason."

"Hey."

"What if they just like each other and want to be happy? I had a talk with her yesterday and maybe I got through to her."

"Guys."

"Its possible, she clearly showed some interest in him before dating."

"Hey!" Having been forced to yell Jaune finally managed to grab his friends attentions as they turned towards him. "I'm still here you know and I don't like you guys talking about me and Yang like that. Sure she's always been a bit grumpy and mean but she wouldn't date me just to mess with me. She was clearly going through some stuff so maybe she finally got it figured out." 

Hearing Jaune defend his new girlfriend quickly silenced his friends but Pyrrha was the one to look over at him with uncertainty. "Ever since we've met her there has been something off about her and I don't want to risk her hurting you Jaune. If you want to date her then I have no right to interfere but I just ask that you be careful moving forward with this. You have seen what she is capable of."

With the rest of the table waiting in anticipation they watched as Jaune nodded towards Pyrrha, his eyes shifting down to the table. "I know... I know Yang isn't the most conventional about things but I trust her. No matter what if I feel something is wrong then I will talk about it with her instead of talking behind her back."

Standing up from the table and walking away everyone began to feel bad about how quickly they began talking about the two of them. Some like Ruby and Nora even considering apologizing to Jaune who was quick to leave the cafeteria. "Maybe we are being too hard on them, they just started dating after all. Let's just give it some time who knows maybe Yang and Jaune will make a cute couple." Blake suggested 

"I'm not going to get in their way but if she hurts him in any way then she will have to deal with me." Standing up Pyrrha grabbed her things and walked out of the cafeteria leaving the rest of the table to prepare for a possible fight between the blonde and redhead over Jaune.

"What right do they have to talk about her that way?" Walking through the halls of the school Jaune couldn't stop thinking about the way his friends talked about Yang. Ever since they met he had a lingering thought telling him that there was something special about her and now that he had a chance to see what that was they thought it was a trick. "They'll see, maybe if I do something nice for Yang and she thanks me it'll prove it to them."

Bouncing ideas in his head Jaune found himself in front of Team RWBY's room which he gently knocked on it. "Who is it?"

"Um.... Your boyfriend!" Jaune called out with a small chuckle as he still wasn't used to calling himself that. 

Listening to the sound of Yang quickly hurrying and shifting some things around he waited till finally the door unlocked. "Yeah?" Yang asked standing in the doorway wearing her school uniform which was a rare sight for Jaune. "Did something-"

Feeling a pair of lips against her own Yang stared on in surprise as she didn't expect Jaune to be so forward. Only becoming more surprised when she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him into the room and shutting the door behind them. Leaning back against the wall as she felt Jaune press his body into hers with his hands on her hips with a firm grasp. 

Yang didn't have much experience in this area but feeling the way Jaune moved his lips against hers Yang did her best to kiss him back. The world around them simply drifting away as they found themselves lost in the others touch. Both requiring oxygen to survive however Jaune pulled himself away taking some breaths with Yang doing the same. "Damn.... Where was that this morning?"

"Oh sorry, its just that I was thinking about us and... I realized I really wanted to kiss you." It may not have been the entire truth but from how he had put a smile on Yang's face Jaune felt he had done a good job. "I would do it again but class is going to be starting soon and we don't want to be late."

"Just let me grab my swords." Patting him on the chest Yang walked over to her bed securing her swords to her side ignoring what the teachers said as she preferred having them on her at all times. With them secured she looked down at her scroll and picked up looking at the screen. The smile on her face quickly disappearing as she stared at the screen.

Y- Handling it don't worry. Things will be fine.

-Don't disappoint me

Turning off her scroll Yang ran out of the room meeting Jaune and grabbed his hand as she walked with him to class pushing the messages out of her mind. Arriving at the classroom Yang took a seat beside Jaune and was ready for another boring class filled with history and Grimm facts but as the bell rang Professor Oobleck was absent. Yang paid no mind to it till he suddenly ran in being quick as ever. "Morning everyone! I have an announcement for this morning, in preparation for the upcoming Vytal Festival we have began taking in students from other kingdoms who will be competing."

Looking over Yang watched as an older looking girl with short black hair walked in followed by another girl with green hair and then a boy with silver hair. They didn't really catch Yang's attention till the last one walked in. A short girl with long brown hair and matching eyes framed by red glasses. As their names were announced all Yang could do was stare at the girl who eventually noticed and simply smiled at her.


	12. Chapter 12

Sitting in her seat all Yang could do was stare in shock as these new Haven students were introduced to the rest of the class. This upcoming tournament bringing students from all four kingdoms and if they were ordinary students Yang really wouldn't care. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, even with her hair and eyes disguised Yang could see through her friends disguises any day. As happy as Yang was that her best friend was still alive she couldn't help but be worried for what she was here for as well as Raven finding out she's still alive.

"Sadly our teammate here suffered an injury at a young age and is unable to speak. I promise you that it will not be a problem for any of her studies professor." Cinder said with a kind smile towards their teacher who nodded.

"Very well! If she requires any assistance I take it you will be there to help her?"

"Of course." With a few seats open next to her Yang hoped they would sit beside her but watched as they say on the other side of the classroom. Keeping her eyes on Neo Yang tapped her foot against the ground waiting for class to end. If it was combat training or field exploration then maybe she could talk to Neo but with this being a history course all Yang could really do was wait. 

The hour long class being the longest hour Yang has ever had to live through and when hearing Oobleck wrap up was beyond relieved. "And that covers the current chapter, make sure to read over the chapter for the upcoming test. Now make sure you eat your necessary nutrients at lunch!" Being as quick as ever Oobleck ran out of the classroom leaving the students to stand up and prepare to leave.

"Alright then, wonder what they're giving out for lunch today. You hungry Yang?" Turning to his left Jaune was surprised to see Yang already standing and prepared to leave.

"Huh? Oh yeah but I just remembered that I left something in the dorm, I'll meet you there." Leaning in Yang planted a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek before rushing out of the classroom.

"Geez can't we just go find some computer and hack their system?" Mercury asked as he walked down the hall with Mercury behind him. "Do we really have to sit in during the classes?"

"If we want to blend in as normal students then yes, besides aren't we going to have to compete in the Vytal Tournament?" Emerald asked glancing back at Cinder who nodded with a smile.

"That's the plan for now, things are a bit unclear at the moment." As the four walked through the hallway Neo nodded behind Cinder unable to really add to the conversation and honestly didn't care. She was just here as a favor to Roman and wasn't sure if things would go steady with Yang here. Her eyes widening as she was grabbed and pulled into a janitors closet with her teammates walking on without her.

Kicking the person and sending them into the rack of cleaning material Neo was ready for another punch only to have her wrist grabbed. "Will you-" Leaping up Neo crashed her knee into her attackers chin landing a kick to the ribs as her arm grabbed onto their hair. Turning them around in an effortless movement and pressing her attack against the wall. "Neo!" 

Finally taking in who's voice that was Neo reached over finding the light switch in the darkness and flipped it on seeing Yang pressed against the wall. Quickly letting go and stepping back Neo bowed her head with her hands together saying sorry. "Geez... What the hell were you thinking?" Yang asked as she stood up not surprised Neo had further developed her fighting skills.

Watching Neo begin to form signs with her hands Yang leaned down a bit with an angry scowl. "My fault? For starters what the hell happened that night at the docks? You know how long I've been thinking that you died out there? How about sending me a message and letting me know you're alive?" Yang asked angrily as Neo held up a scroll only for it to shatter apart. "Still... Could have found a way to contact me..."

Giving her a nod Neo looked up at Yang before finally giving her a tight hug with Yang sighing and hugging her back. Stepping back Yang smiled down at her friend before letting out a groan. "I really wish we could just go hang out or something but the reason I pulled you in here was for another reason." With a confused look Neo blinked mindlessly before looking flattered and placing her hand on her chest. "Easy there, way off the mark."

Yang said pressing a finger against Neo's forehead pushing her back. "In fact I actually have a-" Considering telling Neo about Jaune Yang shook her head. "Look I don't know what you're doing here but you need to get out." Even though she was happy to find Neo again all she could do was beg her to leave. Neo shaking her head causing Yang to groan louder and rub her forehead. "Deep breaths... Deep breaths..."

Placing a hand on her hip Neo raised an eyebrow with Yang doing as she told herself, calming down with deep breaths. "Okay... I told you before that Raven has me infiltrating a place and that place is here. And I would be happy to have you here but she has access to the security system, meaning that if she looks at a camera and sees a short mute girl..." 

Not needing Yang to finish her sentence Neo nodded quickly as she thought over what she said. Raven would definitely still want her dead and with a completely different look being short and mute was a dead giveaway. "Neo.... Please, I'm done losing you. I still blame myself for what happened at the tribe and the docks. Just go, I know that you can survive out in the world so just get far from here before Raven finds you."

Giving her warning some thought Neo shut her eyes remembering what happened at the tribe, the scar on her shoulder a constant reminder of it. Wrapping her arms around her best friend Neo gave Yang a tight hug with her letting out a soft sigh. "That's your decision huh?" She asked with Neo nodding. "I have your back just like how you've had mine."

Hearing those words of encouragement from her friend Neo smiled and opened the door walking out and looking back at Yang. "Its best if we're not seen together, this is one of the few blind spots the cameras have but lets not risk it." Shutting the door Neo walked away as Yang leaned against the wall letting out a quiet groan.

"Dammit Neo why can't you just do what I say for once?" Shutting her eyes Yang couldn't shake the sound of the bullet, the way she was so close but couldn't save her. "Not again..." Gripping the hilts of her swords Yang soon walked out of the closet only to run into a janitor about to open the door. The two silently staring at each other as Yang just now realized their fight knocked over a number of things. "Uh... Sorry." Being quick to walk away from the situation Yang kept her head down.

"Right back where you started?" 

"It was fun but we are on a mission, how many times do I have to remind you of that?" Winter questioned having taken a shower and gotten dressed after some stress relieving fun in bed with Qrow. "The message is about some students from Haven who recently came here in preparations for upcoming Vytal Tournament."

"Oh yeah?" Walked over Qrow scratched the stubble on his face looking at the four pictures up on screen. Reaching out and grabbing Winter's hand when she was about to click off of it. "Hang on... I feel like I've seen these four before." Focusing on the pictures Qrow tried to think back to when he might have seen them but his mind was drawn a blank. "Look into those four, even if they're not involved with this there's something about them."

"About time you do some investigating." Winter commented as she looked over their profiles but it would be quite easy to fake, especially appearing as a visiting student. As she looked it over however the sound of clothes rustling could be heard and turning around she found Qrow already dressed. "And where are you going?"

"Well it's like you said... About time I do some investigating." With a cheeky grin Qrow exited the room leaving Winter to roll her eyes.

"Do you guys think you're gonna be ready for the test?" Nora asked with a yawn having dozed off quite a bit during Professor Ooblecks lecture. 

"All we need is some time to focus and concentrate on our studies, maybe tonight when we're all together we can have a study session." Ren suggested as Team JNPR walked together through the dining hall with their food in hand only for Jaune's pocket to buzz and after pulling out his scroll put it away just as quick. 

"Well I'll see you guys later, Yang wants me to meet her right now. I'll be there tonight for the study session though and who knows maybe Yang will tag along." Jaune suggested and grabbing a hold of what food he could carry left his team leaving the cafeteria. Not noticing the light scowl Pyrrha had on her face but let out a soft sigh walking to a table. As Jaune walked around the outside of the cafeteria he kept an eye out for his fellow blonde and found her leaning against a pillar. "Hungry?"

Holding out a sandwich Yang glanced over at it and shook her head. "Not really." It was only a few seconds later that Yang accepted the offer and grabbed the sandwich taking a bite out of it. 

"So what did you want to talk about?" Jaune questioned as Yang took another bite out the sandwich.

Pausing momentarily Yang ended up simply shrugging at the question and leaning her head back against the pillar. "I just... I wanted to see you." Yang admitted and even looked away from her new boyfriend. "Do you like your mom?" Yang suddenly questioned surprising Jaune who chuckled softly and stepped closer.

"Um if you're worried about her not liking you you don't have to worry Yang I'm sure that-" As he spoke he noticed Yang glancing at him and shaking her head. "My mom? Well yeah of course I like my mom but I guess I do have to say that I would have liked her to step in and stop my sisters from messing with me so much." He admitted with a smile but seeing Yang still with a gloom look he shook his head. 

Stepping closer as Yang took another bite out of the sandwich only to feel Jaune suddenly hug her surprising her. Looking over at Jaune as he held her in his arms Yang swallowed the piece of sandwich in her mouth before clearing her throat. "You okay?" Yang asked as it was such a warm hug out of nowhere.

"I should be the one asking you that." Jaune replied not stepping away or loosening his hold on her. "You seemed sad and since we're dating now it's my job to make sure you aren't. And I know you're probably gonna tell me you're fine but can we just skip that and maybe just do something to cheer you up?" In hopes of helping her Jaune finally stepped back with Yang looking down at the ground with a small smirk.

"Fine... If you're so dead set on making me happy then stay with me. I have some things to think over and having you with me makes it easier to think." With a simple nod Jaune reached down grabbing Yang's hand as he leaned against the pillar as well. Surprised to see Yang offer him the rest of the sandwich, accepting it and not noticing the quick glance Yang gave to the security camera in the distance.

Having some actual private time with Jaune where they were just together didn't sound too nice but Yang found herself enjoying it more than she cared to admit. Even saddened when the time came for them to head back to class and with a groan looked over at Jaune. "I think we're actually going to be doing some combat training, think you're up for a fight in front of the class?" Yang questioned with Jaune considering it but shaking his head. 

"Not quite yet." He admitted and with interlocked hands walked with Yang back to class. In said class the sounds of bullets firing echoed as Ruby took aim towards Jaune who blocked with his shield. Watching as he rushed forward still blocking any shots she gave Ruby blasted past him in a blur of petals nearly stumbling out of the fighting area. Stabbing Crescent Rose into the ground behind her saving herself from falling and letting out a sigh or relief. 

The rest of class watching on as the two fought with their aura levels shown on a screen above. "Honestly she almost lost right there what is she thinking using her semblance in such a limited space?" Weiss asked annoyed to see her friend making such mistakes while Blake watched Ruby swing her scythe at Jaune. 

"From the looks of it she's just trying to avoid getting hit, she certainly has range given their weapons but it's only a matter of time before-" In a quick movement Jaune trapped Crescent Rose's blade behind his shield luckily not stabbing himself and pushed Ruby right off the stage. Unable to get loose from her scythe though Jaune fell right with her with a buzz going off. 

"Alright then, that is enough it is time for the next pair of students." Glynda said as she was in charge of class as usual but was asked to do Qrow a favor who was watching from the back of the class. 

"Wow you seem to have actually learned something from Yang, I always thought that she just yelled and beat you up." Ruby said as she and Jaune stood up and walked towards their seats. A folded piece of paper suddenly flying through the air directly into Ruby's forehead. "Ow, what the.." Looking forward she saw Yang with a smirk having clearly heard her comment.

Walking over Jaune couldn't help but laugh as Ruby pouted taking a seat next to Weiss but as Jaune walked to his seat he felt his arm grabbed by Yang. "Hey, good job out there." She said with a smile which put one on Jaune's face before he finally took his seat a few rows up. 

Gazing down at her scroll Glynda glanced up at the students seeing a subtle nod from Qrow in the back. "Very well... Our next fighters will be..." Pressing a button the overhead screen soon began to randomize the students with Yang being placed first and Cinder being placed second. Yang standing up off her seat and looking over at the so called Haven student stand up and walk down to the fighting area as well. "Are the two of you prepared and ready?"

"Yeah." 

"Of course." 

Yang drew both her swords watching as Cinder pulled out her own pair of wide dual blades. As a small timer began Qrow watched carefully and began to record the fight in hopes of gaining something useful. With the buzzer going off Yang rushed forward and with a powerful swing of her swords watched their swords collide. It may have been like any other hit for Yang but for Cinder time seemed to stand still as their blades collided. 

Feeling the vibration in her hands from the hit it was a sensation that Cinder had felt before and one that she was craving more of. Looking into Yang's lilac eyes Cinder couldn't hold back her smirk as a second swing of her swords came. With a weak block Cinder allowed herself to be thrown right off the area from the sheer force of the hit. The buzzer going off signaling the victor. "Are you certain you want to participate in the Vytal Tournament?" Glynda asked given the two hit loss.

"Simply an off day for myself, come the tournament I promise you that I'll come out on top." Cinder quickly replied standing to her feet and watching Yang sheath her swords before walking back to her seat. Qrow watching from the distance with a soft sigh as he didn't bother staying and walked out of the classroom into the hallway.

"Where have I seen her..." Pulling out his scroll he began looking over the footage of the short fight. Looping the video Qrow attempted to scan every frame and eventually noticed how Cinder seemed surprised at the clearly incoming strike. "Maybe Winter was able to find something in their files." Sliding his scroll into his pocket he walked away with the lingering thought of Cinder in his head.

As he continued to walk Qrow paid no attention to his surroundings and continued on out of the school grounds and with a soft yawn made his way out towards the airship that he and Winter had arrived on. Walking onto the airship he left the hanger door open before finally turning around. "So you want to talk to me?"

He asked looking at the blonde girl in front of him that had been following him since leaving the classroom. "I want to talk to you about something." Yang suddenly stated as Qrow stood there keeping his eyes on her before nodding. "Lets say I had information on... On some criminal activity. Do you think that maybe you could help me stop the people commiting the crimes?" She asked watching as Qrow stepped closer and crossed his arms. 

"And who are these people committing crimes?" He questioned staring down at Yang who remained silent. "Look if you're worried about them coming after you we can protect you as well as any others that may be targeted. I just need you to tell me what you know."

"I can protect myself and you know that." Yang replied as she reached over placing her hand on the hilt of her sword. "Look... I can't tell you what I know I just need to know that when I can tell you everything that I can rely on you to help me. So can I trust you or not because this might affect your niece as well." Hearing that Ruby might get involved Qrow stepped forward and even reached back placing a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"You know you're giving me enough to bring you in and hold you for questioning." He warned with Yang nodding. 

"I know, this is a big risk for me and I'm not threatening you or your niece I'm just giving you a warning of what might happen. And you can take me in, hold me for as long as you want but I'm not telling you anything till I'm ready. So do we have a deal or not?" Staring at Qrow Yang hoped this wouldn't come back to bite her and after a moment of silence the older man sighed and scratched his head. 

"If you're involved with any illegal activity even if you spill the beans on the rest of your buddies there's no guarantee you walk away from this scot free. Also I'm going to need more than just some words from you, actual evidence is going to be required if you want to put someone away. If you want us to do something like this then I'm going to need that." With a simple nod Yang turned around and began to walk off the ship. "By the way.... Who are you?" 

It was a simple question and even though Qrow expected Yang to have the answer it was clear from her hesitation that she didn't. "I'm just someone trying to do the right thing for once without messing it up." Walking off the ship Yang let out a soft sigh and made her way back to class walking in just in time for the class to be dismissed.

"That was a long bathroom break, are you feeling alright?" Ruby asked with Yang nodding and standing up off her seat she just sat down in. 

"Yeah just had something to take care of while I was out." Glancing over Yang noticed the new so called Haven students gone and was ready to leave with Team RWBY only to notice Jaune step in front of them.

"Hey so me and the team were going to be doing some studying tonight to prepare for the test and I was wondering if maybe you guys wanted to come along. I thought it might be a nice way for us to spend some time together and get ready for that upcoming test." He suggested but had his eyes occasionally drifting over to his fellow blonde who couldn't help but smile at him.

"Well it would be nice to pass around notes and help each other memorize." Blake suggested with Weiss nodding in agreement. 

"Ooh maybe we can get some snacks and head over in our pajamas and just have a big old slumber party while we're at it. I'm sure that the dorm rooms are big enough." Ruby suggested with Weiss looking over at her best friend before turning towards Jaune.

"Do you think the rest of your team would be alright with that?"

"I don't see why not, you guys are right across the hall anyway so if things go bad we could all just separate. I'll go tell them right now." Ready to walk off Jaune was stopped by Yang grabbing his hand and everyone watched as she leaned in quietly whispering something into his ear. "Oh... Really?"

"Yeah, so go on ahead and I'll drop them off later and you can see how it feels. No offense but what you have now is kind of..." Thinking for the right word Yang eventually just shrugged with Jaune nodding. 

"Well if you say so, I'll see you guys tonight." Once again ready to leave he was stopped by Yang who suddenly pulled him close and pressed her lips against his. Blake immediately turning red with Weiss covering Ruby's eyes as the two blondes kissed with Yang soon pulling away with a smile. "Uh... Thanks?" Jaune asked with a very large smile.

"You're welcome." Giving him a light shove Yang turned back towards her team with a small grin on her face. "What can I say? Gotta live life while you can right?"

"So any particular reason you let blondie wipe the floor with you? I get we're supposed to keep a low profile but I was expecting you to enjoy yourself a bit if I'm being honest." Mercury said as he laid on his bed inside the group's dorm room. Staring up at the ceiling while Cinder stared down at her blades. 

"I was expecting a more exciting fight as well but what I wasn't expecting to feel what I did there." Cinder mentioned as Neo sat on her own bed staring at her scroll and sending random messages with Emerald looking at a map of the school. "In just those two hits that she delivered I felt something that I didn't think I would feel for some time. But I don't think it's the girl herself, I think I might be those swords of hers."

Hearing this Neo glanced over at the leader of the group quickly looking back at her scroll when Cinder noticed the look she gave. Standing up out of her seat and walking over to Neo who didn't even bother looking up. "Anything you would like to say Neo?" Cinder asked only for Neo to point at her mouth. "Very well, write it." Grabbing a small notebook and Pen cinder slammed it down on the bed staring at Neo. 

The mute girl looked around noticing both Mercury and Emerald staring at her and with a roll of the eyes grabbed the notebook. Flipping it open and quickly writing something down before holding it out to Cinder. Reading it Cinder soon looked down at Neo before suddenly lighting the notebook ablaze. "For a girl who can't speak you have quite the vocabulary." 

Sticking her tongue out Neo showed she wasn't afraid of them and after a quick stare off Cinder walked back to her blades. "Those swords aren't made out of any ordinary metal, if possible I would like to get a hold of them and examine them for myself. Do you think you could help in that Neo?" Cinder asked seeing a small glare coming from the illusionist before a knock could be heard at the door. "Remember, Haven students."

Walking to the door Cinder opened it only to see Yang of all people standing there, the sight surprising everyone but shocking Neo as she began to worry. Readying herself for a possible fight but watched as Cinder simply smiled. "Yang correct? Is there anything that I can do for you?" 

Yang remained silent looking back into their room spotting the others before returning her gaze to Cinder. "I just wanted to welcome you all to the school, I visited Haven a long time ago and thought it was a neat place. Maybe one of these days you and me could hang out and get to know each other better." 

"I would like that, oh and thank you for not going easy on me during our fight. Mercy is one thing that I am not a fan of."

"No problem." With a smile Yang waved at the others inside and walked away with Cinder shutting the door before turning to her partners.

"Alright then... When do we make her disappear?" Mercury asked sitting up in his bed and turning towards Emerald. "Classic bait and trick?" He suggested only for Cinder to step closer shaking her head. 

"Not quite, before we begin planning on how to get our hands on those swords perhaps we should focus on finding our quiet teammate." Even though Neo was sitting on the bed she was rather still and after slashing straight through her Cinder watched the illusion shatter. "Oh Roman, you better hope your girl isn't a problem for me."

Having slipped out from the room with no one seeing Neo knew that it would only be a matter of time before they realized she was gone. Right from the start things were tense and Neo even asked Roman to back away from this deal but knew he wouldn't. Walking through the halls of the school Neo looked around making sure she was alone and after a moment opened a door walking into a janitors closet. The light suddenly being turned on as Yang stared down at her. "Glad to see you still remember the code."

Simply nodding with crossed arms Neo thought back to when Yang went to see Cinder, her fingers tapping against her hip in a certain pattern. Raising her eyebrows as a way to ask what she wanted Yang soon nodded. "Okay so I know you're probably wondering why I wanted to meet but first off, are you ever gonna tell me what happened after the shot."

Hearing Yang question about what happened to her after that fateful day between them Neo soon looked to the side shrugging. A soft groan coming from the blonde before she chuckled nodding in agreement. "You never change huh? What about what you and your buddies are doing here because you are clearly not a Haven student."

With a moment of hesitation from the request Neo kept her eyes staring at the wall and began doing a few quick signs with her hands. "You'll let me know if you think I should?" Yang asked glad at the fact that she was still able to so quickly comprehend sign language. "Neo... Look you made it clear that you're not going anywhere so... I need to know that I can trust you before I tell you this." 

Reaching down Yang grabbed her friends arm and stared down at her. "Can I still trust you to watch my back?" 

It was a simple question but it weighed heavily on Neo, her eyes glancing over at her shoulder now with a scar on it and stared up at Yang. Giving her a quick nod with Yang smiling and holding out her hand feeling Neo grab and shake it. "Good, because I am going to take down Raven."


	13. Chapter 13

The leaves from the trees slowly fell from their branches with the wind gently carrying them along. A certain leaf flowing along the forest before eventually landing on a finger, a pair of eyes staring at it before blowing on the leaf only to watch it simply fall to the ground. A pout coming to Neo's face only for someone to snap their fingers beside her. "Can we try to stay focused here? This isn't going to be some easy task after all and you still haven't said if you're going to help me or not." Yang asked as Neo leaned against a tree raising an eyebrow. "What?" Yang asked as Neo pointed at her mouth. "Said... Right, sorry about that."

Kicking up some leaves on the ground with them transforming mid air thanks to her semblance, a simple bundle of leaves turning into small drawings of a cartoon Neo and Yang on the ground with X's over their eyes. All while a tiny cartoon version of Raven stood over them with a sword. "You have really gotten better with that haven't you?" Yang asked only for the illusion to disappear with the wind. "Look I'm not going to force you into anything but right now.... Its my best chance."

Yang explained before letting out a heavy sigh thinking back through her years with her mother. "I've been considering this for a long time but never had the courage to act on it.... And when I finally did I lost." If Neo could talk she would be immediately asking questions but no words were needed as she watched Yang turn her back to her. "It happened not too long ago..." Moving her hair aside Yang soon loosened and removed her vest, reaching back and pulling her shirt up revealing a brand mark on her. 

"Raven.... Was planning something and it was something I couldn't go along with. So I decided to stop her and was caught, she locked me up in a cage and without much thought put me up on display.... A message to everyone there... That not even her own daughter would be forgiven for going against the tribe..." Thinking back to that night she was branded broke her a little as she quickly dropped her shirt and tied her vest firmly around her. The long gold locks falling back down and covering her back. 

"I think the first time I really began to doubt what she was telling all of us was when... Well when I thought you died." Yang told Neo who nodded along. "You don't know what happened after you went over right?" Neo shook her head hearing the question as Yang nodded and looked down at her hands. 

The tribe was practically destroyed, the walls completely gone, scorch marks along the ground, craters from explosions, bodies... Yang, Neo, and Vernal happened to miss the fight which didn't help and it showed with how the three were on full display as Raven stared them down. "Who was it?" 

The three girls remained silent averting their gaze till Raven placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, her eyes carefully watching each of them. "I allowed you to lead this mission Yang, you promised me you could handle it and instead you bring me nothing and lead the Atlesian military directly towards us. Now I'm going to ask this one more time and I expect you to come forward, who was it? Who led them to us?" 

Yang knew better than to disobey her mother but right now that's all she could do because deep down she knew her mask not only falling off but staying at the outpost was what led them here. She thought she could handle a job but now all she could think was what her mother would do to her. Her heart began to beat faster and faster as she stared at her mother, those crimson eyes never looking more scary than right now. It happened so quick that Yang didn't even notice at first, Raven had swung her sword right past her and straight through Neo. 

Yang looked over in shock only to watch as an illusion completely shattered and Raven stepped forward. "Search the area! I want her brought back to me!" Raven ordered with the bandits quick to drop whatever they were doing and rush into the woods. "And you two..." Raven said aiming her dust blade directly at them. "You will stay here no matter what, once I have her then I will decide what to do. But for now you stay here."

Slashing open a portal Raven quickly stepped through and it was only when it was gone that Yang let out the breath she had been holding. "Crap.... Okay come on we gotta go. Maybe if we find her first then we can-" Yang was already making her way towards the woods but looking back saw her friend simply standing there. "Vernal! Come on! We have to find Neo!" She called out running back and grabbing Vernal by the arm. "What's wrong with you?"

"Raven.... She said to stay here. We're already in tons of trouble we'll be lucky if we don't end up with a brand mark on our backs. Its best we just do what she says, you should know that better than anyone. You need days to come back to yourself after you brand someone!"

"And what about Neo? She ran, she ran because she knows it'll make her look guilty. She's doing this for us dammit so the least we can do is make sure that she escapes alive!" Yang yelled only for Vernal to pull her arm away and shove Yang back.

"And who's fault is all this anyway? Me and Neo had no trouble doing what we had to, you were the one who lost your mask as well as the device! You really wanna help Neo? Why dont you go find your mother and tell her that you're the one that screwed up? That you're the one that deserves to be branded right now and not Neo!" The two girls stared at each other both silent after their outbursts, fear and anger in both their eyes with Yang simply turning and running into the woods. 

Neo had seen Yang scared before but never like that, she knew that her friend was at fault and what would happen to her. She couldn't stand there and let that happen but she also knew Yang wouldn't allow her to easily take the fall for the failed mission. So what better way to look guilty than to run for it but that was easier than said. Every few minutes Neo was forced to hide or fight her way past some of the people that she had come to grow and care for. Even though that was tough to begin with she had just recently escaped Atlesian military and been starved for the past few days. Her body and aura were close to giving out but she had to keep moving. 

Unfortunately Neo didn't even know where she was right now, the camp had been relocated and with her on a mission she hadn't had time to get the lay of the land. As soon as she tried to gain her bearings though a bullet flew into her shoulder knocking her to the ground, luckily no blood meant that she still had some aura left. So with a quick burst of energy she ran as fast as she could only to run out some bushes and right into a cliff. Looking over it there seemed to be a lake but with rocks pointing out the wall and the distance Neo wasn't hopeful. 

The bushes behind her beginning to rustle and in that moment Neo considered just jumping for it only to watch as Yang walked out the bushes and immediately smiled. The biggest smile on the blondes face as she ran over hugging Neo with the mute taking a moment to enjoy the hug. "You freaking idiot... Why would you do that? Even if Raven was gonna punish me I'm still her daughter, it's not like she was gonna kill me. But you... Dammit Neo..."

There was pain in Yang's voice and Neo could hear it, she really did wish she could make things better but there was no way of getting out of this. "O-okay look if I bring you in maybe I can convince my mom to go easy on you. Or maybe if we both take the blame then she'll... Or... Or..." Yang attempted to think of a way out of this but nothing was coming to mind. Her mind racing till Neo suddenly grabbed her by the hand, a smile on her face as Neo shook her head. They had a good run but given the circumstances Neo knew she wouldn't get a better time to do this. So with a smile on her face Neo began to lean in as she stared into those lilac eyes that she-

BANG!

There were plenty of shots during the chaos with people yelling and chasing her but for some reason that particular shot was the loudest out of them all. Neo could feel herself falling back and it slowly dawned on her that her aura had shattered, the bullet in her shoulder being very liveable but as for the force that sent her backwards over the cliff. "NEO!" 

Yang reached forward to grab her but it was useless, she watched as her friend fell downwards tumbling against some of the jagged rocks sticking out the side of the cliff. She wanted to jump down after her but her body wouldn't move, Yang was stuck there on her knees overlooking the cliff as her friend finally plunged into the water down below. "Dammit! I didn't think that the shot would send her clean over!" A bearded man walked out of the woods holding a small revolver in his hand, standing over Yang as he looked over the edge. "Shit... Either way not like she's surviving-"

"Aaaaaahhhh!"

It all just went black for Yang there, it was like her mind had simply shut off and she was simply going through the motions. She didn't know how to describe it, she was exhausted, dizzy, confused, it was like she just woke up from a deep slumber. Her hand was holding something as well, glancing to her left there it was, her sword in hand but the blade was covered in something. She reached up to rub her eyes with her right hand but noticed that it was also coated in something. 

"Oh fuck...."

Glancing over Yang saw a few of the bandits from her tribe staring at her but some weren't looking at her, they were looking at something near her. When she finally turned to look her eyes widened and she stared in shock at what... What used to be a man... Now nothing more than... She couldnt even think it as she crawled over to the cliff and began vomiting over it, her heart racing quicker and quicker as she ripped her vest off. "I cant breathe.... I can't breathe..." 

She attempted to suck in air but she couldnt, she could feel her body about to simply stop till a pair of arms were wrapped around her. "There there... In and out, slow breaths Yang." In a rare display of affection Raven was holding Yang as her lungs finally began working but as she stared her red hands they couldnt stop shaking. "Just focus on me, focus on your mother." It was a soft soothing tone and Yang could do nothing more than nod and curl up as her mother picked her up. The body and her swords staying there as Yang remained silent. 

"So yeah... After you went over I guess I was so filled with rage that... That day I killed someone, it wasn't even a simple stab I... I don't think i stopped till I physically couldn't..." Yang explained with Neo walking over and grabbing her by the hand, nodding and pulling Yang closer. "I think that's the only reason Raven didn't do anything to me. In some sick twisted fashion.... She was proud of me..." 

Gritting her teeth Yang pulled her hand away and tightening her fist punched a tree had enough that she struggled to pull her hand free with how deep it had gone. Once she did though she took a deep breath and looked back at Neo. "Sorry just... Been a while since I've thought about that day... But thinking back to it only makes me even more sure that we have to stop Raven once and for all. She's had this coming for a long time and if you're willing to help, I know how we can do it."

Neo needed very little persuasion in order to take down Raven, there were times that she considered going back to the tribe but knew that it was best she keep her distance. Now though, she knew she needed to do whatever she could to help Yang which was why she nodded with a look of pure determination. "Alright then, a while back she had me steal some data from Ozpin and I looked into it before giving it to her. One thing that I found was that Ozpin has an actual maiden hidden away here at the school." 

Yang explained and reached for her swords pulling them out and putting them on display. "We both know that Raven is a maiden, she made these swords using those very powers. Which is why..... I can kill the maiden with these swords then I'll be able to take her power and be on the same level as Raven. Once I do have that though then if I... If I... End Raven her powers are going to leave her and you're the only person I trust with those kinds of powers." Neo stared in awe as Yang explained her plan and ran her finger over her neck before pointing towards Yang with a raised eyebrow. "Look I'll do it okay? I know I'm not a killer but this is the only way, with that boost in power I'll be be able to take down Raven."

Neo needed very little words to tell her friend how she felt about this plan, Yang just finished telling her about how she could barely think after killing someone years ago and now she wanted to take two lives. Pointing a finger to herself Neo questioned Yang on her role in all this. "Okay as for you, I need a solid alibi for where I am tonight. And luckily my best friend can cover for me in a way no one else can." Yang said with a prideful grin as Neo silently sighed and turned into Yang with her arms crossed, rolling her eyes as her friend smirked. "Like looking in a mirror."

The small hike back to the school grounds wasn't anything too grueling but it did take up some time, something Yang was thankful for as that meant night would be coming soon. Her and Neo had parted ways but they both knew where to meet up. Making her way back to her dorm room Yang walked in to find the rest of her team preparing for later tonight. "So everyone ready for the big old study session later tonight?" 

"You mean the sleepover?" Blake asked with Ruby smiling and quickly rushing forward. 

"I'm so excited! I wasn't too into it when Jaune said it was a study session but then Nora said it's basically a slumber party and I got so excited! Me and Weiss used to have slumber parties all the time, her room was so big that we would make these awesome pillow forts and even-" Ruby was quickly silenced by Weiss covering her mouth and placing a finger over her own lips to signal silence. In a slow motion Weiss removed her hand with Ruby nodding. "Sorry."

"Yeah tonight should be real fun, just hope things dont get too crazy." Yang mentioned even though her plans for tonight would most certainly be very different to theirs. Lifting up her matress Yang reached in and pulled out a thin long box which drew everyone's attention. "A gift, I figured that it was time Jaune get a bit of an upgrade." Turning around Yang opened up the box with all the girls peeking in and smiling. "And tonight is just the occasion for it."

"And you did this?" Weiss asked just to be sure and received a quick nod from Yang. "You really are talented aren't you?" She asked with Yang nodding once again.

"Oh man oh man how much time do we have left?" Jaune asked with Nora looking at her scroll as she sat on the bed eating from a small bowl of chips.

"They should be here any minute now." She responded and glanced over at Jaune who was carefully tying a ribbon around a box. "Why are you so worried about it? She's just gonna pull the ribbon off when you give it to her anyway."

"It has to show that I tried, that I care about her and went through the effort of- whoa!" Jaune couldn't help but jump as a clock on the dresser slid off and hit the ground. 

"Sorry!" Pyrrha said quickly apologizing as she walked over and picked up the clock, setting it back on the dresser with a smile. "My semblance seems to be acting up as of late. I believe that I may need a bit more sleep." She said with Nora looking over at her with a suspicious look while taking a loud bite out of the chip. "So how much longer till the others arrive?" She asked only for a knock to be heard at the door.

"Not much longer." Ren said as he walked over to the door opening it and was met by team RWBY smiling at him. "Come in." He gestured with his hand and the four walked in seeing a large open area cleared out for their so called study session but all eyes were on Yang and Jaune as the two stared at each other, both holding a box meant for the other.

"Did you get me something?" Yang asked with Jaune clearing his throat as he nodded.

"Y-yeah I mean you said that you were gonna give me something so I went into town and found you a gift as well. I hope that you don't mind." Jaune quickly said as he was clearly nervous, especially with the audience the two currently had.

"I don't mind one bit but what I do mind is some people not catching a hint." Yang pointed out with everyone looking away except for Nora who ate another chip with her eyes on the two blondes. Not even bothered by the glare that Yang had pointed right at her.

"What? I just wanna see what's gonna happen." She responded with Yang rolling her eyes before grabbing Jaunes hand and dragged him out into the hallway.

"Okay so now that we are not being watched here, I wasn't too sure on a couple things but I can make some changes so feel free to speak up." Yang said being the first to hand over a gift which Jaune opened up and raised an eyebrow. Pulling out a pair of light blue pajamas, more specifically pajama bottoms and a button up top. "I felt that maybe it was time for you to get something a bit more your age to sleep in. Not that your onesie wasn't cute its just... Its cuter on an actual child." 

Jaune couldn't help but laugh and nod as he ran his hand over the shirt. "Wow this is really nice... I don't know what to say." He had never really been given something like this before but he loved it. "Oh and uh... While I was in town I found this and felt that it suited you." Holding out the box Yang took it and tore off the ribbon opening it and immediately looking confused. "I saw it in a store window and thought you might like it, I know you prefer red but I thought brown might look good."

Reaching in the box Yang pulled out a short sleeved brown jacket and stared at it silent as she wasn't sure why but... It was calling to her. "Hold this." Yang quickly said as she tossed him the gift and removed the fabric around her vest followed by her red vest. Standing there in a tank top before grabbing the jacket and slipped it on, zipping it up and patting it down. "So... How do I look?" She asked as she rarely ever wore something besides her red vest. 

"Uh... Wow." Was all Jaune could say as he didn't want to sound negative but he felt that the brown suited her much better than the red did. 

"Good response, I have to say not having to tie that fabric around my waist to secure that vest is gonna save me time getting dressed. And uh.... If I'm being honest I was looking for something to replace that old vest so thank you." With everything that Yang was planning this small show of affection really helped calm her nerves. Stepping closer and hugging Jaune tightly taking a deep breath. "It means a lot that you bought this." Yang admitted as the door to the room silently shut.

"I guess they really are close, makes me feel bad for eavesdropping." Blake said in a soft whisper as everyone had decided to take a peek at what was happening with all nodding. Pyrrha staring down at the floor as she had liked Jaune and ever since they started dating she had been hoping for them to break up but now, she was just glad that those two could be so happy. 

Jaune and Yang soon entered the room with Yang making sure to show off her new jacket with Jaune even changing into his new pajamas to show them off. All sitting down in a circle to begin their study session which lasted a few minutes before one question was asked followed by another and another. The study session now a simple slumber party with everyone opening up. "Alright next question... Nora, you and Ren seem close. How did you two first meet?" Ruby asked with the two asked looking at each other.

"Me and Renny met back when we were first kids.... We met in his village and uh... He was nice to me." Nora admitted with Ren looking down at the ground with a bashful smile. "We didn't really talk but later on there was a Grimm attack, I was all alone and really scared and then Ren came and saved me." Reaching over Nora gave him a playful punch on the shoulder with Ren shaking his head.

"I didn't do too much, in reality I helped us go unnoticed and get out of there safely. After that attack though it was just us so we kind of had to get along if we were going to survive and luckily I got stuck with the best person I could wish for." Ren said with a smile as he looked at Nora who quickly looked away with her cheeks red given his sweet compliment. Yang smiling at them as they managed to make a good thing out of a Grimm attack.

"I guess you guys and Yang have something in common then." Weiss pointed out with Yang looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Well you said that you lost your parents in a Grimm attack didn't you?" Weiss reminded with Yang quickly nodding and sitting up as she cleared her throat.

"O-oh yeah well uh you know I didn't really have anyone with me when it all went down so I try not to think about it. You know... Traumatizing experience and all that." Yang said leaning against her propped up pillow with everyone silently glancing at each other with Nora sitting up.

"Okay then! I have a question for Yang, what were your parents like? You've told us about how they weren't the ones who taught you how to fight so I take it that they were pretty normal folk?" Nora questioned with all eyes on Yang once more as she sat up and tapped her hand against the ground. "If you don't mind telling us that is."

"Uh no that's fine I uh... Well my parents...." Yang started as she had a cover story about her past but never planned on going into too much detail about it. She could easily tell the group no but right now she actually wanted to speak out about it. "So my dad... He wasn't around a lot meaning I didn't really get to know him too much. Always out working in the fields and making sure we had food on the table, to tell you the truth I don't even remember what he looked like. Guess you could say... I never really knew my dad."

She admitted as everyone was silent noticing how Yang seemed so.... Different. There wasn't any of that underlying sass or sarcasm, right now she was being sincere. "But my mother... I don't even know where to start to be honest. As for her... Well we spent a lot of time together with her teaching me everything knew. It would be simple things like fishing and even complicated stuff like...... Knitting, knitting." Yang said as she knew she couldn't speak up about their training.

"She was always really strict and tough on me rarely giving me breaks and doing whatever she could to make sure I understood every little thing. Sometimes I began to wonder if she was just doing it for entertainment but... I'm who I am because of her. All the bad and even the good, she taught me to read and write and whenever I would struggle with a chapter she would promise me a prize at the end. She never actually gave me a prize but it was kind of fun, wondering if that chapter would be the one where I finally get that prize. Not to mention whenever I got sick... She actually coddled me and didn't push me to train till I was better."

Even though some were curious about this training Yang mentioned no one asked up about it as they all saw something happening to Yang as she spoke. "I guess that she had her moments where she was actually nice..." Yang mentioned before looking around confused and a drop of water land on her folded legs. Staring at it before feeling the tears down her cheeks. "Shit.... Dammit..." Reaching up she quickly began wiping the tears away and felt Jaune wrap an arm around her. "I'm fine... Fine..." 

Never did Yang expect to tear up speaking about her mother but it had just been so long since she actually thought about the few good times that they had. "Its alright Yang, it's okay to miss your mom." Taking a deep breath Yang shook her head pulling herself away from Jaune as she stood. 

"Can we just not talk about this? I actually have something I wanted to do tonight so wait here." Now standing Yang walked out the room and across the hall into her own room taking the opportunity to lean against the door and take a deep breath. "Why the hell are you crying dammit?" Yang asked herself only to hear tapping. Looking she found Neo waiting and quickly cleared her throat. "Hey... You got it?"

Neo nodded and reached up to touch Yang's cheek but when the blonde shook her head Neo didn't push her on it. Holding up a bag and handing it to her with Yang taking a glance inside before nodding. "Thanks, be ready for your part." Walking out the room Yang made her way back into the other filled room. "Okay! Sorry about all that but I have a surprise for everyone!"

Walking to a dresser Yang opened up the bag and set down a projector onto the dresser aiming it at the large open wall on the other side of the room. "Movie night! I hope you guys don't mind but I went ahead and prepared a movie for us." With a slot on the projector Yang slid her scroll into it with it projecting her screen which turned into a blue sky with a company logo popping up. "Alright everyone get comfortable and no talking!" Yang ordered as everyone soon leaned against the beds and furniture with Yang sitting down beside Jaune.

"This was a great idea." He whispered leaning and planting a soft kiss on her cheek as Yang cuddled into his side. Enjoying the feeling of being around actual kind people, not having to look over her shoulder, and actually being next to someone who cared about her. All of that only making it hurt more though as she leaned in towards Jaune.

"I forgot something in my room, be right back." She whispered and stood up walking out the room and into her teams room to find herself waiting there with her arms crossed. "Its all set up, if Jaune tries to ask or talk to you just shush him with your finger. If everything goes smoothly I have two hours to slip out and come back, thank you again." With one last hug between the two friends Neo made her way into the other room disguised as Yang with the real Yang walking to the closet and pulling out a duffle bag. Staring down at her pair of swords and gripping them tightly. "Just do it."

Changing into the dark white fang outfit she had Yang leaped out of the window onto the ground level before quickly rushing towards Ozpin's tower using the darkness of nighttime to her advantage. There were numerous thoughts running through her head with each step she took as killing a maiden would certainly put everyone on high alert. If she wasn't caught yet she would most certainly be after this. With her swords strapped to her back and the pair of silver daggers on her bicep and hip though she knew she was ready for whatever came her way. 

"Alright.... First off to get inside." Running around the building Yang soon saw what she was looking for and with a running start leaped up stabbing right into an air vent and tore it off forcing her body into it. "Of all the damn things I had to get from her... Why'd it have to be the chest..." Yang muttered as she squeezed through the air vent having to remember the exact paths to take. A right, straight, left, and if she was right then she would find herself face to face with a metal line. "Come on now... Get out..." Yang muttered forcing herself out and grabbed onto the line. 

Staring down at an elevator being held by it and carefully slid down the line being sure to silently land. Popping open the hatch on top and dropping in before stabbing the button panel and tearing it off. The wiring still in tact Yang looked for a certain wire and after finding it managed to get the elevator heading downwards, even past the first floor. "Okay... Final stretch... Just do it..."

It wasn't an easy choice but Yang knew that she had to do it, she had the weapons of a maiden on her back which meant she could kill one. Kill one, just kill one person, then she would be able to take down Raven. That's all she had to do... Kill... Kill... The word kept echoing in her head as she thought back to her only kill, how she was in a blind rage and just destroyed the man. Taking a deep breath she attempted to calm her nerves but with how the suit was covering her entire body began to feel her chest tightening.

Leaning against the wall of the elevator as her breathing quickened and the walls seemed to be closing in on her. "I can't breathe... Can't breathe..." She muttered and after a moment pulled her mask off taking a deep breath of air as the elevator doors opened. Staring out at what was just an incredibly massive stretching room. Catching her breath and stepping out Yang looked around seeing it was completely barren except for two chambers at the end of it. "Just do it... Just do it..." She repeated as she walked over to the chambers finding one of the glasses fogged over. "You're in there aren't you... The maiden?"

Yang asked even though she knew she would get no response. "I'm sorry, if there was another way I would take it but I've seen what she's capable of. I need your power to take her down, I'm so sorry..." Reaching out Yang wiped her hand over the glass and her eyes widened seeing nothing inside even though the chamber was clearly active. Rushing to the other she peeked inside seeing it empty as well and simply stood there in shock. "But... The files... They said..."

"They said what was true at the time, she was being held here but after my data was stolen I knew I had to take precautions." Yang quickly turned to see Ozpin standing there with his cane and similar to the mistake she made years ago she wasn't wearing her mask. The two silent as Yang simply reached behind her and pulled both blades as she looked at her headmaster. "I have been watching you for some time now, I wasn't sure at first but here we are."

"So what? You knew that I was the one that stole your data?" Yang asked as she held her swords up, Ozpin was the headmaster of the school for good reason meaning she couldn't underestimate him.

"I had my suspicions at first but I was also suspicious of something else. You have different color eyes and hair, but the way you move, the way you speak, how is Raven doing nowadays anyway? Planning to kill me?" Ozpin asked as Yang was silent before stepping closer. 

"You know my mother? You know who I really am?" Yang asked aiming a sword at him.

"Yes I do but I must ask, do you know who you really are?" He asked with Yang growling as she felt he was toying with her. "How much do you know about your father? How much of it is even true? Do you know about that cold winter night where an innocent child was stolen to be turned into a killer?" 

"I'm not a killer!" Yang suddenly yelled as she growled and tightened her grip on her swords. "I don't want to kill anyone..."

"Even raised by Raven you show kindness and remorse just like your father. I am not here to lock you away I am here to offer you an opportunity to learn the truth about who you are, the truth that your mother hid." Holding out a hand Ozpin showed no hostile intent, even with the young girl ready to strike. It was a silent moment between the two before Yang finally sheathed her swords and stared at Ozpin.

"My mother told me about you you know, about what you did to her. I don't have any reason to trust you but... I also don't have any reason to trust my mother. So why don't you tell me who I am?"


End file.
